Seaside Ghosts
by phoenixreal
Summary: Nnoitra Gilga gets up one morning to see why his dogs are barking so much. What he finds outside surprises him, and leads him down a path of serious intrigue, and unexpected...love? This is a first draft, plot bunny gone wild thanks to SapphireTou.
1. Ghosts of the Past

**Seaside Ghosts**

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 _AN: Okay folks, you know how MUCH I've missed you all?_

 _I'm working on returning from Hiatus. I've had some health issues, so writing is super slow these days but I am trying to get back into it. I've got a huge backlog of messages to answer, so please be patient. I'm still not well, and right now I feel like an episode of Mystery Diagnosis, so bear with me._

 _Luv,_

 _Beverly_

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 **Chapter One**

 _Ghosts of the Past_

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"Nnoi…" came the whispered voice in the darkness. "Nnoi, please, wake up, please," the whisper came with increasing urgency.

Nnoitra Gilga blinked as he saw his little brother leaning over him. It wasn't uncommon for Tesra to wake him up in the middle of the night, but there was a tinge of different fear in his voice and he could hear their yard dogs, Molly and her pup Ratchet, barking too. He reached up with one long fingered hand and pulled off the CPAP mask from his face while he hit the button to turn off his machine. He hated being woke up in the middle of the night. He had enough trouble getting enough sleep as it was without actually having to get out of bed and go outside. He was glad he wore the long wearing a contact in his good eye so he could wake up and see in the middle of the night.

"Nnoi, there's noise outside, and the dogs…" Tesra whispered frantically, hands wringing in front of him as he glanced toward the window.

"Okay, shush, you get back to bed," Nnoi said, sitting up and blinking slowly before he stood up.

He yawned as he headed into the hallway and out into the main room. Outside the motion lights had come on and he could hear Molly and Ratchet making a racket out there. It wasn't the first time he'd had to check things in the middle of the night. Nnoitra lived with his mother, father, and little brother Tesra. Well, Tesra was adopted, which had worked out well since his mother's pregnancy had been so hard on her. Nnoitra had inherited her condition, Marfan Syndrome, and the chances any other children would also was pretty high. So, when he was quite young, and his school friend was removed from the home for being abused, his mother had taken him as a foster child, and later adopted him. However, the boy had been left with crippling PTSD and long term effects of the physical injuries.

Nnoitra looked at the clock. It was four am. Great, he thought. By the time he checked things out, got situated in bed, and then got to sleep again, it would be time to get out of bed. He sighed, pushing the heavy door open to get into the shop and decided he'd just end up staying up after this and making breakfast so his mom could sleep in a little. She had been having some problems with her heart, increasing as she aged, and unlike Nnoitra, she wasn't in the position to have surgery to fix it. Nnoitra had been able to have surgery early on to fix the major heart issues he had as a child. His mother's had simply taken longer to appear.

His mother and father had run this mechanic's business for a long time. His father was a master with cars. He could fix any problem that came in. He saw himself as an artist, too. Everything he did was functional and beautiful. Even the parts of the car that the world would never see had to be visually appealing and done properly. There were no cobbled together pieces, or substitute parts. Everything looks pristine and clean when his father was done. Nnoitra, due to his condition, had trouble with some of the finer work, but he enjoyed the business aspect. While he did still work on the cars, he generally liked to do paint work.

He glanced around the shop, the lights coming on as he entered. Nothing out of place here, he thought. He was a bit cold though, as though a window was open. He could still hear Ratchet barking, but not Molly. The older, more experienced guard dog knew there was no immediate danger, but the pup was still agitated. Then he heard Molly growl. He frowned, rubbing his blind eye with one hand for a second and then went to door to the yard.

"This is so fucking annoying," he muttered as he ducked under the doorframe out into the yard.

There were several cars parked waiting for repair, as well as a few cars that were in various stages of tear down that here his dad's projects, like a sixty nine mustang and a seventy two charger. The bright flood lamps were set to come on when someone entered the yard. It was both functional and security. Generally speaking, having a flood lamp come on and two pit bulls start barking at you sent anyone running. She paused and noticed that there were marks on the door, a crowbar? Someone had actually tried to pry open the door to the shop? Why the nine hells would anyone do that, he thought as he looked around.

He looked out at the dog run area. They'd build a run for the pups to stay in at night and when they needed them away while cars were being brought in and out. The two dogs could run along the fence all the way around the buildings, but they couldn't get into the main part of the yard. It was often too dangerous for them to get out there when there were major repairs and welding going on. He glanced over and saw that Molly was staring at the side of the building, hair on her back raised and growling low in her throat. Ratchet, being the pup that he was, just ran around her and barked randomly. He frowned. Something was over there.

Nnoitra wasn't afraid of much, but this area was known for some pretty heavy drug dealing, and someone high or strung out could be very dangerous. So, being somewhat aware of the possibility of danger, he knew that Molly would be his best ally right at this moment, so he took one long stride over to her pen and she immediately came to the gate. Ratchet was still jumping around, so he let Molly out. Molly was well trained and immediately stopped growling.

"Molly," Nnoitra said quietly. "Go."

Molly bolted to whatever it was she had been growling at and Nnoitra followed. He didn't worry about her getting hurt, Molly knew what she was doing. That's why he'd left the pup in the pen. He would have gotten himself hurt if there were intruders in the yard. Unexpectedly, instead of barking or growling, he heard her give the low pitched "injured baby" whine. Nnoitra came around to find her licking gently at a person's face. There was a person lying behind the bushes that grew along the side of the building. The lights didn't light it up well, but he could now see the shape of the body.

"Molly, back," he said and kneeled down.

Molly, for the first time since she had been a puppy refused to move and whined again, licking at the face of this stranger. Rather than get angry at the dog, he knew she was doing what any good mother would do and taking care of an injured pup. Nnoitra couldn't tell the gender of this person, but he could see pale skin in the dim light. He wouldn't be able to tell much until he got him inside. It didn't even dawn on him to call the cops or an ambulance. He leaned easily over the bushes and gathered up the extremely light body easily and let Molly follow him into the house. He didn't see Tesra so he guessed he'd gone back to bed like he told him to. Nnoitra took his bundle into the spare room next to his. He used it as a study and office while he was going to school.

He laid the body down on the top of the covers and stepped back so he could see what he'd found. Molly sat beside the bed and whimpered at him.

"Don't worry, girl, I'll make sure they're okay," he said, reaching down and scratching her head.

What he'd found was a young man with almost nothing on him and looked like he'd been beat to hell. The most obvious feature was the crop of bright orange hair on top of his head, unruly and unkempt. His face was slack in unconsciousness, and he had a black eye that was swollen pretty badly. His lip was split and there was significant bruising around his mouth and chin. Molly's licking had cleaned away some of the dried blood on his face but not all of it. He was dirty. He was wearing a pair of very tattered tan boxer shorts and an undershirt that used to be white. His arms and legs were decorated with bruises and cuts in varying stages of healing, but some were very recent. Nnoitra carefully pulled up the undershirt and noted his ribcage was a mass of purple and black bruising. He was breathing relatively well, but he was concerned he might have broken ribs.

Nnoitra sighed and went into the bathroom that connected this room to his and grabbed a washcloth he dampened with warm water and the first aid kit. This wasn't the first time he'd found someone that needed off the grid help. He set to cleaning the boy's face. He couldn't be more than fifteen, he thought to himself as he wiped away the blood and dirt. He was almost done when his eyes fluttered and opened. They were a deep chocolate color and Nnoitra smiled, he hoped in a reassuring way.

Unfortunately, Nnoitra, at six foot nine inches tall, and with a smile that was slightly unnerving due to the wide set of his mouth and his teeth being crowded together in the front, was not reassuring. The boy screamed and scrambled backward off the bed onto the floor near the wall. Nnoitra sighed and heard the unmistakable footfalls of his folks waking up and heading downstairs.

"Hey, kid, please don't freak out, I'm not gonna hurt you," he said softly as he could.

The orange puff of hair appeared first followed by his hands and frightened eyes. Nnoitra waited but looked up as his dad came into the doorway.

"Hijo, what is happening? We heard screaming," his father asked.

"I found someone in the yard, papa. He's a bit beat up and scared," he said as he watched the boy's eyes flit between him and his father, Santo Gilga.

Santo nodded slowly. "You okay, then? Your mother is having a hard time sleeping tonight," he said, glancing between his son and the other boy.

"Fine, papa. Tell mama that I'll fix breakfast so she can sleep in," Nnoitra said, smiling at his father.

Santo nodded and left the room with one backward glance at the boy hiding beside the bed. Nnoitra sighed and held up the first aid kit in his head.

"I'm trying to patch ya up, kid," he said. "You were out in the yard. I brought you inside."

The boy looked like he wanted to trust him but he wasn't sure. "Who…who are you?" he finally said softly.

"Nnoitra Gilga," he said, smiling, this time without teeth, at the boy. "Who are you?"

"Ichi…Ichigo," he finally, wincing in obvious pain at being crouched beside the bed.

"Well, Ichigo," Nnoitra said softly. "I saw your ribs, so please, come lie down so I can clean you up. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

He shook his head emphatically and his eyes looked even more frightened at the thought. As Nnoitra had expected.

"Okay, then get up here before I call an ambulance to come get you," he said sternly.

Ichigo crawled back on the bed with some degree of pain and sat staring at the odd looking man before him. He'd never seen anyone so tall and long limbed in his life. It was unsettling to say the least.

Nnoitra was used to the stares and reactions about how he looked. "I have something called Marfan Syndrome, it just makes me very tall and my limbs very long. Also makes my joins super flexible," he said, giving a sideways grin and pulling on of his hands backward completely. He saw the boy's eyes go wider. "So I'm not going to hurt you," he said, patting the bed beside him. "I just want to see if you need more medical attention than I can give you."

Ichigo reluctantly moved toward him and laid down on his back. He was scared out of his mind at the moment. He watched as this strange tall man cleaned his cuts and checked him over. He was shaking by the time he was done.

"There now, nothing too major," he said, closing the first aid kit and looking back at him. "Tell me, now, how'd you end up in my yard?"

Ichigo swallowed hard. "I…I ran. And…and he caught me, and I thought he was going to kill me…and I got away and I…I didn't know where to go, so I saw the light here and…and I was gonna hide in the building but I couldn't get in…and he was there, trying to get over the fence and then the dogs started barking and the lights came on and he ran off, and I just couldn't stay awake anymore…" he said, sitting now and holding his arms over his chest.

Nnoitra frowned. "Who was he? Your family? A stranger? What?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I don't know, I don't know, not anymore," he said. "He…he told me that pop didn't want me, didn't want me anymore, and that he was…he was the only one that would take me, but…but he…he…" Ichigo put his hands over his head and Nnoitra could see a pattern of bruises of various stages of healing that faced upward when he put his hands like that. Nnoitra's eyes widened. He was used to doing that to protect himself.

"What happened?" Nnoitra said pulling his arms down gently.

"He…he…I got them killed!" he said, eyes wide. "I was nine, we were nine, and it was my fault, and he took me because pop was angry and didn't want me, but he hated me…he said he…he had to punish me for what I did…I took away momma, I took away his momma, and we…we were along with his dad, his pop, Uncle and…" He paused to heave long slow breaths. "But…but Uncle started doing bad things…things that he didn't like. He said Uncle shouldn't do those things, and I tried to run and he always caught me, and t-today I couldn't…I couldn't…"

Nnoitra frowned. This was confusing. "Who are you talking about, Ichigo? Who was nine too?" he said softly.

"Uryū," he whispered. "He's the only one that cared, but Uncle…he hated me so much, and I deserved it for what I did…"

Nnoitra frowned and wondered exactly what this kid could be talking about. "You said you were nine, how long have you been with this Uncle?" he said quietly.

Ichigo shook his head. "Long time…I don't know."

Nnoitra watched as the boy's eyes fluttered and he slumped over into sleep. He pulled a blanket over him and went to his computer. He didn't have a lot of information, but maybe he could find out something. He still had an hour before he had to start breakfast. He started searching for information using the names and two women dying in the last five years. He found nothing, so he frowned and went back ten years in the records. He was about to give up and decided to search for missing persons in the area with the first name Ichigo. It was a long shot, but how many people in California would have the name Ichigo?

He blinked as he found one of those missing children posters and immediately recognized the boy beside him. A young boy smiled in the picture on the left as the details about him at the age of nine were listed. The aged picture looked similar to the boy beside him now, but the age progression made him look more mature than he really did. Age now, in 2016, was listed as twenty-one. He glanced at the boy he was sure was fifteen. He was twenty-one? And had been missing for twelve years. Ichigo Kurosaki.

Some searching for a few minutes uncovered a police report for two women that were gunned down at one of the local beaches. Masaki Kurosaki and Katagiri Ishida had been shot and killed by an unknown assailant who was suspected to have kidnapped Ichigo Kurosaki. Surviving the incident had been Katagiri's son, Uryū Ishida. Uryū's father had been the one to find the murder scene. Since then there had been no sign of the boy, and no leads on who murdered the two women.

Nnoitra frowned. Things didn't add up. If Uryū was with Ichigo, then he was kidnapped by Uryu's father? Nothing about this made a lot of sense.

oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo

Ichigo had awoken that morning not knowing that things would turn out so…wrong. How could he have expected how badly things would go? He knew he was going to be lucky to get through the day without getting beaten in some fashion, and hopefully, Uncle wouldn't want him be _alone_. Ichigo huddled into the small cot he slept in and hoped that today was a good day. He shivered though because he knew that Uncle had been too nice the day before. He'd let him eat dinner with him and Uryū. He'd even let Uryū show him some of his school books. Ichigo wanted to see them, even though his reading wasn't very good. He hadn't been to school since he was a child, before he came to live with Uncle. Uncle said if anyone found out he was with him, they'd be in trouble when he was younger. Uncle didn't let him have books or anything, so he had little knowledge of anything after his ninth year when everything went wrong.

The apartment they lived in was small, two bedrooms, one for Uryū and one for Uncle. Ichigo's "bedroom" was a large front closet that was just big enough to fit his cot into. Of course, there were coats and bags in it too, but at least at this place he had a place to sleep by himself and not just in the floor of the bathroom like the last one. He liked to be along, mostly because it didn't hurt so much then. Ichigo was still half asleep when the door opened and he looked up to see his white haired uncle staring at him. His heart froze because he had that look, that look that meant it was going to be a very bad day.

"Good morning," he said, smiling with no warmth or even feeling. "Come here," he said, reaching down and grabbing Ichigo's hair and dragging him out roughly.

Ichigo whimpered a bit, but clamored to his knees and then to his feet as he drug him toward his room. Ichigo shook his head and tried to push on his hands. No, not now, he thought. He promised it wouldn't happen again. He said he was wrong. Every time, he had promised, though. Every time, he'd made it up to him, said he'd never do it again. He'd even brought him home food from McDonalds, a whole meal and soda, just to apologize once, and another time, he'd brought him new clothes and some toys to play with. The door shut behind him as he threw the younger boy to the floor inside.

Ichigo tried not to panic, again, but he couldn't help it. He never knew what to expect with Uncle. One day he'd be nice, another he'd be violent and angry for no reason that he could see. At first, after he had rescued Ichigo from being taken by the police, he'd been mean now and then but it wasn't terrible. He'd hit him for being bad now and then, or talking back, but it wasn't that bad. Then it just got worse and worse. And then Uryū would sometimes hit him, but he didn't think Uryū liked it because he always looked like he was about to cry when he had to punish him for something. Sometimes Ichigo felt like being punished was just what he had to have happen. If he didn't clean up the apartment right, or if he didn't make the right food, or if he didn't do something that Uncle forgot to tell him to do, he had to be punished for it. That was the rules and he couldn't break the rules or the police would come find him and put him in jail for murder. He couldn't go to jail for murder. He father didn't want him, and was going to send him to jail, that's why Uncle had taken him away. Uncle was a good person for doing that, so he had to listen and be good for him. He didn't know why he couldn't seem to be good enough for Uncle, especially since Uryū started going to the big school. Uncle was a doctor, and he was so busy, and then Uryū had to be gone all day, and sometimes the house wasn't clean enough. Sometimes the food was not hot enough. Ichigo just couldn't get things right.

"You stupid idiotic brat. You honestly think you are good enough to sit at a table with us and eat?" he asked, smiling.

Ichigo shook his head. "N-no sir," he said. "I'm not, but you told me…"

Ichigo's sentence ended with a backhanded slap. He tasted blood but kept quiet. He didn't want to get hurt more than he had to. "Yes, yes, Uncle," he said quietly, only to be grabbed hard by his upper arm and picked up, feet nearly off the floor completely.

"You should be thankful for all I've done for you," he said, and Ichigo saw his eyes looked funny again. "You should thank me for the attention I give you."

"I do, I thank you for saving me, Uncle, but you said…you said that you wouldn't…" he nearly choked on the words.

Ryuken's eyes narrowed and he threw the smaller boy onto the bed on his belly. Ichigo gasped as he felt his hand yank his head back painfully with one hand while he felt his other hand at the small of his back, pushing down until it was painful.

"You belong to me. You caused the death of my wife and your mother; you have no say in what happens to you. If it weren't for me, you would have been put in jail with the rest of the murderers. I will use you however I like, I will do whatever I like since you took away everything from me," he growled into his ear.

Ichigo felt him moving his hand and squeezed his eyes shut. If he just tried to forget it, he wouldn't feel it. He could pretend he was playing with his super hero toys, and he was far away. He always tried, but it never worked as his head was let go but he felt the fingers dig into his hips and he stifled a near scream. The fist slamming into the back of his head set his head to spinning and he was somewhat thankful. He hoped Uryū hadn't heard him because Uryū wouldn't like this, Uncle had said not to tell him because he wouldn't like it all. Uncle said that Uryū would have been jealous, even though later Uncle would say it was wrong. Ichigo didn't know, he just knew he didn't want Uryū to know about it either.

Ichigo was sobbing into the sheets when the weight over him was gone and he felt hands in his hair again, yanking him up off the bed. He had been particularly hurtful, and Ichigo could feel something dripping down his legs as he was pulled to stand. He hurt, more than before, and he couldn't stop crying. Uncle just stared at him.

"Useless waste of space. You don't even make a decent fucktoy. Get in the bathroom, and shower, you smell fucking awful," he said, throwing him toward the attached bathroom.

Ichigo found himself unable to stand on shaking knees. He made it and sat on the floor of the bathtub sobbing into the water from the shower. He couldn't handle this. He heard the door open and threw both arms over his head and pulled his knees to his chest, breathing heavily. He felt the shower turn off and hands on his hands. He flinched away from the touch.

"Don't uncle, don't do that again, don't do it again, please," he cried out, making himself as small as possible.

"Ichigo, its me," Uryū said, softly, gently pulling his arms down. Ichigo looked up to lock eyes with him.

"Uryū," he said, gulping. "Sorry, sorry," he whispered, trying to wipe away his tears.

Uryū had thought something was going on in the last few months. His father had more than once granted Ichigo unusually generous gifts. They were things that were well above and beyond anything he had ever allowed the boy. He'd never, in twelve years, given Ichigo toys. He'd never, also in that twelve years, given him food other than scraps from their meals. So, something had changed, and Uryū, at the back of his mind was sure he knew what it was.

Since the beginning, when their mothers had died, Uryū had been told that Ichigo got what he deserved. His father told him that if he wasn't careful, he would get the same treatment. His father told him if he told, he'd regret it, but more than that, if he told, he said he'd cut Ichigo's throat or give him a shot of something so he wouldn't wake up again. As he grew older, he'd been subject to a few of his father's beatings, nowhere near as many as Ichigo, of course. However, it was enough that the threat that he could be treated like that was strong. He didn't want to sleep in closets and bathrooms on the floor. He didn't want to not be allowed to go to school. So he was selfish and he didn't tell anyone about the other boy that lived in his house, spending his days while no one was home locked into a bathroom or a closet. He even punished him when he was told to do so, no matter how much he didn't want to hit him.

"What did father do?" he asked quietly. "What did he do? What did he do this time and the other times when he gave you those special gifts?"

Ichigo's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "I…I can't tell, he said not to tell, not even you can know, I can't…I can't…" he said shaking his head and covering it.

Uryū knew for sure now. He grabbed Ichigo's face and pulled it up. Ichigo locked eyes with him, tears still falling.

"He can't do that to you, do you hear me? He can't! You don't do that to others, you just don't! No! When I get home, after he goes to sleep, I'm going to help you get away, okay? You can't, do this. And I'll go away too, and he won't find us again," Uryū said, frowning.

So it was that that night, Uryū had led Ichigo down the steps in a set of his clothes. He'd told his father he was leaving to an all-night study group, which he'd done before, so when the door opened and closed it wouldn't surprise him. Uryū had gotten almost to the car with him when the door slammed open and his father stood there staring at them. Ichigo had bolted. The sheer terror on his face when Ryuken appeared and moved toward him was obvious. Ryuken went after him without even seeing Uryū it seemed.

A few minutes later, Ichigo had been tackled in a wooded area by the older man. He tried to get away despite the series of blows and hail of hurtful words that came his way. He managed to get away but lost the too big jeans in the scuffle, leaving him in his shorts. Uryū was a lot less gaunt than he was, so his clothes just hung on him. He saw a fenced area and thought he could hide or something and managed to pull himself over and fell into a yard. He had caught his sleep on the wire at the top and ended up slipping out of the too big shirt.

"Is that who is helping you?" he heard from the outside. "Are these the people that are giving you these ideas that you can run from me?"

Ichigo saw Ryuken slide through a gap in the fence and glare at him. "No, no, I just…" he started.

"I'll show them," Ryuken muttered, grabbing a crowbar and going to pry the door with it. "I'll teach them to spy on me and fill you with lies…"

The lights came on then and a chorus of barking ensued, causing Ryuken to drop the crowbar and take off. Ichigo panted as he watched him slide out but the world was starting to grey at the edges and then it all went dark.


	2. Ghosts of the Heart

Chapter Two

Ghosts of the Heart

Gin Ichimaru was somewhat off putting, to put it mildly. His constant snake-like smile often made people wary, as they should have been. He'd worked as a private investigator in California for a long time now, mostly taking cases of mostly native Japanese speakers (a large population to his initial surprise when he had come to United States twenty years ago). In that time he had taken on a very unusual case that he could not solve no matter what. That case was that of Isshin Kurosaki, a second generation Japanese American. His parents had immigrated pre-world war two and had ended up in the camps during the war. Isshin's parents had been laborers, but he had gone to school to become a doctor, a pediatrician, actually. Ichimaru had come over to America following a Japanese American love interest, his now wife, Rangiku Matsumoto. She was an actress now, known as Rachel Martin.

Gin had been interested in the case when presented with it because there was absolutely no trace of his son. It was like the child had vanished from the face of the earth. Gin had gone to great lengths to find the boy. He'd gone into sex trafficking rings. He'd gone into Asian fetish circles. He'd gone to almost every dive in California. He had friends in the FBI who got him information on John Does that came in either without memory or to the medical examiner. So far, nothing. Then, one of his office workers, Izuru Kira, a boy he had rescued from a fetish sex slave ring two years ago, was watching online videos. Gin had stopped and stared and called Isshin immediately, asking Kira to send him a link to the video. He'd watched it ten times already, and printed stills of the important things he needed. All this time. Right here under his very nose.

"Gin, what's going on this time?" Isshin said with a sigh as he stood outside the office door.

"I think I have something this time," he said, grinning at the obviously unamused looking man at the door.

"Just show me, it will be another dead end, I know," he said despondently, going with Gin into his office.

After twelve years, Isshin Kurosaki had lost most of his hope. The first few years, he searched, and searched, and did everything he could. Losing his wife had been absolutely horrible, but to lose his son too? It had been a double blow that nearly destroyed him. He'd spent some time inside a bottle before he could pull himself out. His girls had done that, convincing him that if he killed himself drinking, he'd never find his son and their brother. Now, his girls, Karin and Yuzu, were almost seventeen. They both graduated high school this year, and had just decided to go to Serietei University in Las Noches, CA. They said that it was a well-regarded liberal arts and sciences school with a world-renowned observatory on campus. Yuzu wanted to enter their fashion program, and Karin wanted to attend their astronomy program, and play soccer for the school team.

Gin sat down beside him at the desk and turned his laptop around, and started the video. Isshin arched a brow and looked at him. The title was "The Giant Mechanic of Las Noches".

"Just watch, I promise it is worth it," Gin said nodding seriously.

Isshin sighed and let the video begin.

On the screen a girl with green hair stood in with a grin on her face. She wore what looked like a pleated green and black skirt with a white blouse, and appeared around fifteen years of age. "Welcome, Viewers! Once again, it is your favorite youtuber of all time, Lillynette!"

Lillynette grinned. "Las Noches awaits! Now, today we're going to visit with another interesting resident of out quaint little town, the gaunt and very, very tall Nnoitra Gilga! Nnoi is a great guy, peeps, so don't be scared of him. He's a little pervy, so I've asked him turn it down since we have underage viewers!" The girl moved and the camera panned onto what looked like a mechanic's garage with a house attached. The large sign said "Gilga's Custom Rides and Repairs" in very fancy script. In the background, Lillynette's voice continued.

"The Gilga's own this mechanic's shop. Theresa and Santos Gilga have lived in Las Noches for a long time, since like before I was born and stuff, and their two kids Nnoitra and Tesla. Well, Tesla was taken in by the family after being maimed terribly by his previous one, but that's another story for another day. Today, we're talking about this man!"

The camera focused on an extremely tall man leaning over a car, doing something under the hood. He looked up and smiled, which was sort of unnerving. He had a bandana on his head covering one eye, and his mouth seemed too wide. His limbs where longer than normal and his hands were very large.

"Lillynette, you're early, I thought you were coming by after lunch?" he said in a deep voice.

"Aha, but I wanted to catch you working!" the girl's voice said behind the camera. "Get a bit of slice of life into the vid, Nnoi!"

Nnoitra shook his head. "Alright, so you wanted to interview me, you said?"

The camera bobbed a bit. "Yup, questions and answers! I'm a hard hitting interviewer, so let's get down to the tough questions first. So, tell me, why are you so tall?"

Nnoitra sighed and shook his head, not angry but as though it were a question he'd been asked several hundred times. "I have Marfan Syndrome, just like my mom," he said with a grin.

"Ooh, sounds serious, what's that?" she asked.

Nnoitra was obviously not bothered by the questions. "It is a condition that affects the connective tissue in my body. So my joints are hyperflexible, my limbs are longer than normal, and I have had heart and breathing problems. I also lost use of my left eye due to the retina detaching when I was younger."

"So…how tall are you?"

"Six foot nine," he said smiling and standing a little straighter so his height was quite obvious. "My mother is six foot two, and has more severe heart problems that I do," he said nodding.

"Tell me about life here in Las Noches."

"Well, most people know my family, but new comers are a little surprised by me and my mom. I don't mind though. There's not a whole lot of crime or drama around here most the time. Last night was a little exciting, though."

"Oh! What happened last night? I heard there was a commotion here and someone tried to break into the shop!"

Nnoitra nodded. "Yeah, no idea what happened, came out and dogs were barking and…"

The camera caught a figure in the doorway and turned toward it. "Hey, who's that, Nnoi?"

Nnoitra turned and shook his head, covering the camera with his hand. "No one, can we finish later?"

The camera flipped to the girl again, somewhere else. "Hey viewers, sorry that got cut short, but we've got a mystery guest in Las Noches! More details when I find out!" The camera blanked out and a scroll came up with suggested videos, including one about the local university, and something about the vampire scholar of Las Noches.

"Was that…?" Isshin said, looking at Gin.

Gin handed him the stills he'd printed. They showed a boy's face looking around the door into the shop with a wild mop of shaggy, bright orange hair. The eyes were brown and almond shaped.

"Maybe, I can't be sure, could be a coincidence, and after twelve years, I don't know for sure, but…" Gin said with a nod.

Isshin kept the prints. "Find out. I don't want to tell the girls until I know for certain."

Gin nodded, having already sent Kira out to gas up his car.

-oooooo-OOOOOOO-ooooooo-

Uryū had left and not returned home. He had gone straight to his professor's house, the one he had arranged to take Ichigo to for the night. When he knocked on the door, the white haired man answered and sighed. "Something went wrong?" Jūshirō Ukitake said with a sigh.

Uryū nodded and Jūshirō let him into the large house and led him to the living room where his husband, Shunsui Kyōraku sat lounging on the sofa with a glass of wine. Shusui looked up. "No good?"

"He caught us, and Ichi was so scared he just ran, father took off after him…I got scared and left. I couldn't…I should have followed them, Professor. I'm such a coward!" he said, sitting down with a hollow look on his face. "I…I…"

Jūshirō sat down beside Uryū and put a thin arm around his back. The white haired dean of students and psychology professor sighed. "You are not a coward. You decided to put an end to what was happening."

"But too late, Professor. Don't you get it? I should have…I should have told someone a long time ago! How could I possibly lie and pretend he didn't exist and…" he said, shaking his head.

"Uryū, you can't blame yourself for what your father did."

It had been two weeks ago when Uryū had been approached after class by his concerned teacher. Jūshirō Ukitake had retired from his job as a child psychologist a few years previously when his health took a turn for the worse. He and Shusui had lived in Las Angeles and opted to move to the quieter Las Noches when the job opportunity came up. Jūshirō had noted that since he had Uryū in his class this semester, the boy showed obvious signs of some serious mental health problems. Jūshirō was worried that he was more than simply despondent. He showed some worrisome signs that could be abuse related. He was often hyper vigilant of his surroundings, kept to himself, and became very uncomfortable when anyone entered his personal space.

The thing that had made Jūshirō finally say something to the young man was a sudden drop in his grades as well as his mood.

"Uryū, can I speak with you after class today?" Jūshirō had said when Uryū turned in his paper for the day.

Uryū had nodded in surprise, going back to his desk and worrying. He glanced at his returned paper, a big red C on the last page. He guessed it was about his grades lately. He had no idea how to explain things to his professor. The semester was coming to an end in the next month, and finals were approaching. He had no idea how he was going to manage.

After everyone had left the class, he approached the professor's desk and avoided his gaze. "Sir, I know that you want to talk about my grades but it's just some stress at home and I can and will do better…"

Uryū was surprised when he felt his professor put his hand on his shoulder. "Uryū, this isn't only about your grades. Your grades are only a symptom. I would like to hear what the problem is," the quiet professor said.

No one had ever approached him like this. He swallowed. "Sir, I…I don't know what you mean."

"You do, Uryū. You are despondent, isolated, and I think there is something that is making you feel this way. I would like to help, if you'll let me," Jūshirō said with a soft smile.

"I…" Uryū said. "I…how can I even…" he said slowly. "I'm twenty one years old and I've got no idea how to fix something that is terrible and wrong but became normal to me…" he'd said finally.

Then, all at once it came out, the whole story behind his mother's death, Ichigo, and his father's cruelty. The absolute horror of watching his mother and her best friend die and then be completely powerless when his father had come running down the beach and turned on Ichigo. At nine, Uryū hadn't understood what was happening.

 _The sun had been beautiful and felt wonderful as the two boys played together in the sand. Their mothers sat in lounge chairs and under umbrellas and chatted with each other about the things that mothers often do. The two boys were much more concerned with building the ultimate sand castle and then destroying it. Ichigo often looked at his mother and smiled, obviously very much attached to her. It had been just after noon when Ichigo had stood up and ran toward his mother about something. Uryū had turned, smiling at his own mother._

 _The world slowed down as the two boys watched as first Ichigo's mother, then Uryū's mother, had a sudden small explosion of red in their foreheads. There was no real sound, just utter silence, and then Ichigo began screaming, clinging to his mother's body. Uryū stood and stared at his own mother, slumped in the lounge chair, eyes wide, blood oozing from a perfectly circular hole in her forehead above her right eye. He couldn't hear, he couldn't even breathe._

 _Then everything sped up to an incredible pace as he saw his father running toward them, stopping and falling to his knees and holding his dead wife to his chest. Uryū didn't understand, though, when he started screaming at the other boy, then tore him away from his mother's body. To Uryū's shock, he watched his father wrap his hands around his best friend's neck and squeeze until he stopped moving._

 _"_ _The murderer took him. Understand?" his father had said, his eyes looking very bright._

 _Uryū, in such a state of complete shock, refused to speak at all. Then, afterward, he remained mute for four more years. It had taken until he was almost fourteen before he found his voice again. To his horror, it was after his father had told him to punish Ichigo. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he blamed him just like his father. He didn't want to be hurt anymore. He didn't want it. So he kept it secret, because after four years, this was the way life was._

When Uryū finished, he'd been crying openly, in the ugly way that only happens when everything comes out at one flood of emotion. Then and there, Jūshirō had made a plan to deal with things as safely as he could. He'd asked his husband, Shunsui to help, and he had of course agreed.

Now, Uryū sat on their couch rocking back and forth, the overwhelming urge to stop communicating sitting at the back of his throat threatening to take over his tongue again.

"Uryū, you need to calm yourself," Jūshirō said softly. "You are as much of a victim as Ichigo is, you must remember this."

"But I could have…" he started, his voice wavering in and out as he spoke.

Shunsui sighed and stood up. "Don't do this to yourself, boy. Listen, you were a child, you were traumatized and that trauma never ended. You did what you were told to do by your father. Breaking his hold over you took time."

Uryū tried but he couldn't believe that entirely. Here he was, twenty one years old, and for the last three years he'd sat idly by while it continued. He'd gone to school. He'd pretended nothing was wrong. He avoided home as much as he could and went about his life. He stayed with friends, and he didn't think about the other person in his apartment, suffering more than he had.

"It…it took me realizing what he was doing to him," Uryū finally whispered. " I…don't know what to do now…" he said quietly.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The Firecracker Diner was an interesting place. In a college town with a huge astronomy program and telescope as well as a planetarium, it was no wonder that science fiction, UFOs, and aliens were often a topic of conversation. Paranormal stuff was always fun to theorize and discuss, and they often did so at length. Of course, people took varying interest and belief in these things. One, however, was beginning to make the rest of the group a bit uncomfortable.

"The message was so clear," Ginjo Kugo said, smiling at the others around the large round table. "Las Noches, it was here, and that's why I got here," he said, his eyes flittering quickly from one person to the other.

Kugo was more than a little convinced that his communication with aliens was real. He said he heard them in his head because they had taken him when he was a child and implanted a communication device in his head so they could speak to him. Several of the more rational of the group were relatively sure that he was delusional and needed help. Others felt that he was harmless and that indulging his wild fantasies of aliens coming to earth one day led to interesting discussion.

"Look, Lillynette's got a new video out," the person behind the bar said, turning on the TV to the college station and getting everyone's attention. They watched and at the end, they heard Kugo gasp loudly.

Everyone turned and looked to him.

"It's him, it's him! Did you see! They said they were going to send an emissary to bring the star child to earth and that's him!" he said excitedly.

"What do you mean?"

"The orange hair, the pale face, that's what they look like! They're skin is white, their hair is the colors of the sun, yellow, orange, and red. He's the one! They're really coming, this time! Well, they will, I have to get to him! Once I have him, they will be able to tell that it's time! Then they'll come. I have to get ready to receive him!" Kugo said and swept out of the diner leaving everyone speechless.

"Maybe we shouldn't invite him anymore…" someone whispered.


	3. Ghosts of Pain

Chapter Three

Ghosts of Pain

Nnoitra didn't know what to do with the boy. Nnoitra was sitting on his bed and staring at the floor where beside his bed, the young man was curled into a ball on in a thin sheet fast asleep. He sighed, pulling the facemask off and looked down at him for a long moment.

It had been a couple days since he'd found Ichigo in the yard. So far, he couldn't get much information out of him, and getting him to leave his office or bedroom was impossible. He wouldn't even come out to eat with the others, and he would hide in the adjoining bathroom when even Tesra came into the room. Then, at night, Nnoi would try and get him to sleep in the other bed, but he would invariably end up on the floor beside his bed. He wasn't sure why, but he guessed that since Nnoitra had "saved" him, he felt like he was safe around him.

Nnoitra leaned over with a sigh and scooped the much smaller and lighter body up and put him in his bed beside him. He supposed he should at least be comfortable. He turned and curled into Nnoitra's side and sighed, never waking up as he moved him. He was worried about the boy, but he didn't know anyone who would be able to help with this odd situation. He had spent more time trying to figure out what to do, but he was going to have to go to classes tomorrow, and he was worried about what was going to happen. The weekend had been quiet, but the next day was Monday, and he couldn't skip classes. He couldn't really take him with him either… He supposed he'd have to get him out to stay with his family tomorrow. They'd agreed to give him a couple days to try and see if he could come out of his shell.

Nnoitra sighed and looked at the clock. It was almost eight. Today was Sunday, and the only person he could think of that might know something was his friend Szayel. He would know what to do off the grid, he supposed. Szayel ran a late night talk show in the area on sex advice with his friend Luppi. The two made a great team, and did a lot because they knew so much about gender, sexuality, and even kinky stuff. However, Szayel was also probably one of the most well connected people Nnoitra knew. If there was someone that could put him in contact with people that might be able to help this boy, it would be him.

He fished his phone out of the pocket he'd sewn into the side of the mattress for it. After a few minutes there was a grunted reply on the other end. "What the fuck are you calling me for this early…"

"I got a problem to solve before tomorrow," Nnoitra said, sighing. "And I thought you might be able to help."

Szayel groaned. "What the hell, man…I didn't leave the studio until three am last night…I've been asleep four hours…"

Nnoitra sighed. "I know, but…this is your sort of thing, I kind of found a boy in my yard, and I don't know what to do with him, and he's scared to death," he said glancing down at the sleeping form beside him.

"Find his parents, Nnoi, I'm a sex talk show host, not a babysitter," he grumbled.

"He's in his twenties, and I think…I think someone's hurt him," he said softly, biting his lip thoughtfully as his long fingers threaded through the matted hair. He still hadn't gotten him in the bath yet.

Szayel's voice made a strange sound. "Hurt him? How?"

Nnoitra shook his head. "Not on the phone, okay? Come by?"

"Yeah, gimme time to caffeinate myself," he said and Nnoitra knew he was getting out of bed. "An hour."

"Thanks, Szay," Nnoitra said with a sigh. "Mamma will let you in, she'll be up. Come to my room. I can't get him to come out since I got him in here."

There was a noncommittal ascent on the other end and then the line cut off. Nnoitra felt the other body begin to tense and he put his phone aside, seeing the clear signs of someone in a nightmare of sorts. His face was pinched in discomfort and he was muttering under his breath. Nnoitra sighed, and pulled his body up into his arms to try and sooth him from the dreaming. Ichigo jerked finally and his eyes popped open and he stared up at Nnoitra's face as though he didn't remember where he was just yet.

"Hey, Ichi, you were dreaming something bad, you okay now?" he said, quietly.

"No," he said, and stared at Nnoitra for a long moment. "No, no," he muttered eyes flittering around the room franticly. "I just want my mommy again," he said finally.

Nnoitra frowned a bit and nodded. "I know, but you gotta get through his, she's gone and you're not, and…" Nnoitra realized something sharply. "Ichigo, have you gone to school?"

Ichigo look dup at him. "I couldn't leave the house or Uncle said they'd take me to jail," he said quietly. "I stayed in the closets and the bathrooms and we moved a lot…" he said, looking around.

Nnoitra was shocked because that was the most the boy had talked in the last two days. Ichigo stopped though and put his head down again, staring into space. The next hour passed quietly, and Nnoitra dozed in and out until he heard the soft knock on the door.

"Um, come in," he said, blinking and seeing the familiar pink crop of hair as Szayel came in. His eyes were very tired looking, but he was otherwise not looking to worse for not having slept much.

Ichigo's arms immediately tightened around where they'd wrapped around Nnoitra's waist, and Nnoitra had to hold him to keep him from locking himself in the bathroom again. Szayel's eyes went wide as he shut the door behind him and moved to sit beside the boy curled into Nnoitra's side.

"What…he's beaten to hell," Szayel muttered, looking over his face as well as he could. "He's filthy, Nnoitra, why hasn't he showered?"

Nnoitra shook his head. "I can't get him in the bath or the shower, he won't go. I mean, he goes in the bathroom, but he locks himself in there for hours at a time if someone tries to come in here. I keep putting him in the other bedroom, but he comes in here and sleeps on the floor by my bed. So I just gave up this morning and put him in bed with me. I don't know what to do with him, Szay."

Szayel reached out gently and pushed a bit of hair out of Ichigo's eyes. He jerked harshly back to try and escape Szayel's touch and his breathing picked up. Szayel could tell it was only Nnoitra's grip that kept him from bolting into the bathroom.

"Why the bathroom?" Szayel said, looking at him then up to Nnoitra.

"He said he slept there with his Uncle. Look on the computer in the other room, I left up the stuff I found the other night, about who he is. You'll understand why I don't know what the hells to do with him," Nnoitra said, nodding toward the door to the bathroom that connected this room with the other one.

Szayel nodded and stood up, disappearing for a good twenty minutes before coming back to sit down again. "Okay, I see what you mean. So this Uncle of his held him captive for twelve years, and obviously abused him extensively, probably sexually, by my guess. He just…let's get him cleaned up. I'll help you. Let me draw a bath, and maybe I can check him over and see how injured he is."

Nnoitra nodded and he felt the body against him tense again. "Look, we're gonna have to clean you up, your hair is disgusting, and your clothes need to be burned, they're so dirty. Come on," he said, swinging his legs off the bed and Ichigo stared because he couldn't go in the bathroom, the other one was there, and he couldn't go out the door because the other three people were there.

"Come on," Szayel said, pulling his shirt off. "I'm not getting wet," he said when Nnoitra arched a brow at him.

"Ichigo, come on," Nnoitra said as the boy just stared at him. Nnoitra sighed. He was tired today, and he just wanted to get him clean. He leaned over and scooped him up easily, Ichigo yelping and clutching him as he carried him into the bathroom.

Luckily, the downstairs bath was large, since it had been made for both the adjoining bedrooms to share in. The bathtub was a normal sized one, but there was a lot of open space around it so, Nnoitra could easily kneel beside it along with Szayel. Nnoitra set him on his feet, and Ichigo just froze in place, eyes staring at the floor.

"Come on, now," Nnoitra said, reaching down and pulling up the undershirt quickly. He scanned the bandages and pulled them off slowly. "Can you take off the shorts?" he asked, frowning at him. Ichigo's hands trembled as he nodded, sliding them off his thin hips. Nnoitra steered him over to the tub and gently got him to step over the edge into the water.

Szayel frowned as he looked him over. The patterns of bruising were unmistakable to anyone who had dealt with this before. He shook his head and nodded to Nnoitra to try and get him sat down. Ichigo hesitated when Nnoitra pushed on his shoulders but managed to sit down instead of falling on his unsteady legs.

"Sweetheart," Szayel said, looking at him. "Did this Uncle do this to you? Did he hurt you?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Uncle didn't hurt me," he said quietly, looking between him and Nnoitra. He was well and pinned and there was nothing he could do.

Nnoitra frowned. "What do you mean? Ichi-baby, you're black and blue," he said, reaching over and running a finger down some of the darker bruising on his arms.

"I deserved to be punished," Ichigo said, blinking owlishly at the two men. "I killed her, momma and Aunt, so he punished me, if they found me I'd go to jail," he said seriously.

"Jail?" Szayel asked, grabbing a washcloth and lathering it with soap as he spoke. "Why would you go to jail?"

Ichigo flinched but let Szayel start to scrub his hand and arm. "Because I got them killed, and killers go to jail, that's what happens, so Uncle kept me, and kept me from going away with the bad people," he said, eyes following everything that Szayel did as he worked up his arm. Szayel frowned and looked at Nnoitra.

"Ichigo, you were a child, like nine, you didn't kill anyone," Szayel said, leaning over and taking his other arm. "They were shot, from a long way away, too, from what I read."

Ichigo shook his head emphatically. "But it was my fault! Uncle said I caused it! He said he didn't know how but I did it."

Nnoitra frowned deeply at that and grabbed a cup from the counter behind him, dunking it in the water and pausing. "I'm going to wet your hair, okay?" he said, and Ichigo just closed his eyes as Nnoitra ran the water over him. He picked up the shampoo bottle and began to slowly work the suds through Ichigo's hair.

"Ichigo, that doesn't make sense," Szayel said quietly, continuing to wash, moving now to his chest, which he was exceedingly careful with over the bruising. "Your uncle, he lied to you," Szayel said softly.

"But he wouldn't…" Ichigo began then frowned. "But…but Uryū he wanted me to leave…so did he know that Uncle…"

Szayel paused. "Uryū is your cousin. You said he wanted you to leave?"

Ichigo nodded, looking between them. "Uryū was mad because he said Uncle did something bad, he said. He said he couldn't do what he did, but I didn't know why. I took away Uncle's wife. Uncle needed someone, right?" he asked, looking between them. "I had to do what he said. It was my punishment. I had to cook and clean and do that because that's what I took away."

"Ichi-baby, you didn't have to do anything," Nnoitra said, reaching out and putting his hand against the boy's cheek. "You didn't do anything. Someone murdered your mother and your aunt. You watched it happen, you didn't do it. You had no fault in it. Ever. He had no right to hit you or make you work for him, or do what made your cousin mad. What was it that made your cousin mad enough to want you to leave?"

Ichigo looked between them. "Uncle got really mean sometimes, and would take me to his room," Ichigo said, frowning. "He hurt me and would tell me to take a bath afterward, and…and Uryū came home this time and I was sitting in the sh-shower and I thought Uryū was going to hit me but he didn't, he got really mad and said I was leaving and that he was sorry, I don't understand," he said, looking into the now dingy looking water.

Nnoitra put a hand over Ichigo's eyes and rinsed out his hair quickly, finding that it was much brighter than before. "Ichi, please, you gotta let me call someone to help you, at least a doctor," Nnoitra begged.

Ichigo shook his head. "Uncle's a doctor, they will tell him where I am," he gasped. "And Uncle is going to be so mad when he finds me," he muttered, looking away from them.

Szayel looked up. "I know! Let's get him dry and dressed and I'll call someone," he said, standing with a smile.

"You know someone?" Nnoitra asked, seeing Ichigo's eyes widen at what they were discussing.

"Yeah, yeah, he works up at the college, he's a doctor, well he used to be, worked at the ER a long time ago, teaches in the nursing program out there now. You got some clothes for him?" Szayel said, looking around the bathroom.

Nnoitra winced and looked at him. "Um, I'll get him one of my shirts," he said, getting up and going into the next room and bringing back one of his t-shirts.

Ichigo was honestly numb by the time they'd gotten him out of the bath and into a shirt that was far too big. He looked down as the t-shirt with a logo for Marylyn Manson came down to the middle of his thighs. He looked up and the shoulder slipped off slightly. Szayel snickered.

"Wow, that's huge, I'm guessing you don't have any pants that wouldn't slide right off him, huh?" Szayel asked, glancing at the boy being dwarfed in the shirt he was wearing.

Nnoitra looked at him. "What do you think, idiot?"

Szayel sighed, following Ichigo and Nnoitra back into Nnoitra's office, where Ichigo climbed up on the bed and sat and stared at them. Szayel dialed the number from memory.

"Yo, Kisuke, what's up?" he asked, smiling.

"Szayelaporro, how are you, my boy? Something's not wrong with your brothers is it?" he asked, his voice tinged with worry.

"Nah, Illfordt and Wonderweiss are fine, nah, I'm calling for a discreet medical issue," he said, glancing at Ichigo.

"Discreet, huh?" Kisuke said tentatively. "How discreet?"

"Like, we have to have you come to Nnoitra Gilga's place, asap, and you can't tell anyone about it…" he said slowly. "Um, with your medical bag…like, all your exam stuff."

There was a long silence. "Male or female?"

"Male, twenties, way off grid," Szayel answered, golden eyes flittering back and forth between Nnoitra and Ichigo. "And…ah, I'd bring some sedatives."

"Fifteen," came the curt response and the phone cut off. Szayel smiled at Nnoitra. "Arranged. I'll go wait for him."

Ichigo watched him go and looked back at Nnoitra. "Who…who is coming? I don't want to see anyone else…why…" he said, looking at the door to the bathroom again. Nnoitra saw it, and moved, slipping onto the bed and pulling him onto his lap smoothly, wrapping his long arms around him.

"Hey, now, none of that. He's a doctor. And you need to be seen to. I can't tell if you're hurt, I'm not a doctor," Nnoitra said, feeling him wriggle in his grip before relaxing into it. He didn't want him to run off and hide until they could figure out if he was actually hurt or not.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Gin sighed as he stood outside the Firecracker Diner. So far, no leads, other than the video he'd already seen. He knew where the garage in the video was located, but he worried about approaching it directly. He really didn't want to barge in with no further proof than a grainy image from a poor quality video. He was about to walk away when someone yelled "hey" from a little way down the sidewalk. He looked up to see a woman with short dark hair limping toward him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You that guy asking questions about the other night? That ruckus around the Gilga's shop and everything?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, Gin Ichimaru," he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Yeah, Apacci. I don't know if it means something, but I almost hit some fucking idiot that was running across the street that morning, tweaked my ankle pretty hard. I was on my ATV for a pre-dawn ride up to the rise to watch the sunrise, like four am or something. It wasn't too far from the Gilga's, ended up ditching my ride, too," she said, leaning heavily on her right leg.

Gin nodded. "What did this person look like?" he asked, thinking it could have been Ichigo, or at least the boy in the video.

"Some dumb fuck with white hair and glasses, wearing a suit, too, just stopped in the road and stared at me. I swerved off and when I got my ride back upright, he was gone. No idea, then I heard the dogs barking down at the Gilga's. I didn't think much about it, just thought those pits of theirs heard me run off the road," she said with a shrug. "I headed home, knew I sprained it, but wasn't the worst hit I'd taken on my ATV. But I figured I'd let my sisters know what happened," she said and sighed.

"White hair?" Gin asked, frowning. "Had you ever seen him before?"

Apacci shook her head. "Nah, sure hadn't. Dunno where he came from, but thought it was funny when I heard someone new was around asking about what happened Friday night, well, early Saturday Morning. So my sister said you were down here, asking about it, so I came over."

The door opened and a dark skinned woman who had been inside the diner came out with long, curly brown hair. She waved and came over. "Ah, you did get here okay," she said, smiling at Gin. "Did it connect to what you were looking for?" she asked Gin.

"Hey, Mila-Rose. I just told him what happened," she said smiling at her.

Gin frowned. "It…might…but things are getting more confusing…" he said thoughtfully. He was startled out of his thoughts when the phone buzzed in his pocket. "Ah, excuse me, ladies," he said, stepping away from them to answer it. He didn't recognize the number, though.

"Yah?" he asked.

"Detective Gin Ichimaru," came a voice he vaguely recognized.

"Jūshirō?" he said, realizing that he knew that voice.

"Gin, you do remember me, huh?" he asked, and Gin could imagine the smile on the once black haired man he'd gone to school with briefly several years ago.

"How could I forget, that was an interesting semester, you almost dying in the middle of our class," he said, recalling the absolutely horrifying experience of watching someone nearly die in his arms while coughing blood all over him.

Jūshirō sniffed. "Well, I did have stage three lung cancer," he said. "Still not in the best of health, of course. But that's another story, anyway, that's not why I'm calling."

"I'd hope reminiscing over your near death would not be a reason you'd call someone," Gin said, waving as the two women he'd talked to headed off.

"No, I believe that you came to town to investigate something I'm involved with as well," he said, and Gin heard the sound to his voice.

"The incident at the mechanics the other night?" Gin asked, standing straighter. "What do you know?"

"Well, I'm guessing you are here because of Isshin Kurosaki, then?" Jūshirō said.

"How do you know that?" Gin asked, really confused now.

Jūshirō sighed. "Because his nephew is sleeping in our spare room, freaking out because he tried to get away from his abusive father with his cousin, and he has no idea where either of them are now."

Gin nearly dropped the phone.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Uryū sat outside as the afternoon sun beat down on him. He'd left Jūshirō and Shunsui's house to walk down the beach. He'd never really thought about what he'd do if he got out of his father's house, and now that he was out, he couldn't fathom what to do. He watched as the waves came in and went out again. It was peaceful in a way, he guessed. His heart ached thought and he had no idea what to do about it. He felt tears start to well in his eyes and he tried to shake them away.

Along the beach a bunch of kids were wandering around, from the free school, he guessed. There were all ages and they were looking for shells and playing in the waves. They were so happy, it seemed. Uryū saw a pair of young boys building a sand castle and his heart shot to his throat. He couldn't stop the tears then and he let loose with a shaky sob, trying to stem the tide.

"Hey, mister, you want some of my sandwich?" came a small voice beside him.

Uryū looked over to see a little girl with blonde hair holding out half of what looked like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Despite how hard he was trying to avoid the tears he just let them fall.

"Mister?" the little girl said, sitting down beside him. "You is sad, Nel hug you," she said, putting her arm around him while she held up her sandwich with her other small hand.

"Nel, what are you…" came a deep voice and Uryū looked up to see a large, darker skinned man walking toward them. He saw that Uryū was crying and he patted Nel's arm. "Nel, go find out where the boys went," he said and kneeled in front of the man she'd been talking to.

"Hey, can I help?" he asked. "I'm Sado, well, Chad's what everyone calls me. I'm going to the school to be a music teacher; I help out at the school as a volunteer for trips."

Uryū stared at him. "I…I can't do this…how do I do this…" he said, staring into the ocean. "I let it happen, I let my father do those horrible things to him, and I just watched…I didn't want him to do it to me, I'm so selfish…"

Chad frowned and slowly sat down beside the young man. "What can I do?" he asked.

Uryū shook his head and hugged his knees. "Nothing, nothing at all…" he said, taking a shaky breath. "I can't do anything to fix it…I can't help him…I don't know what to do!" he gasped.

Chad didn't think, he saw someone hurting, he simply put an arm around the smaller man's shoulders. To his surprise the sobbing boy turned and buried his face in his shoulder and began to fall to pieces. Chad waved off someone who started to come see what was going on, and Chad just sat there. Who in their right mind would leave someone alone in this condition? He couldn't, he thought to himself as he sat with the brunette and watched the ocean.


	4. Ghosts of Survival

Chapter Four

Ghosts of Survival

Kisuke Urahara hardly came out of either the school or his house and private lab. He was always busy with his research or with his classes and grading. He taught Chemistry full time, so he had all the students that ever attended SU at one time in their degree since it was a core class. He also taught the nursing classes on drugs and medication. About ten years before, he'd been an Emergency Room doctor, and had spent a lot of time under a high degree of stress. He'd opted for teaching when he came close to having a heart attack due to high blood pressure. Curiously, since he stopped working in the emergency room, his blood pressure hadn't been high at all, and he had been off the meds for the last five years. He pulled the bag close to him and hoped he had misunderstood what Szayel had meant when he called him. He'd gotten all the instruments he would need in case he was right, but he never wanted to do this sort of thing with someone. It was hard enough to have someone you didn't know look at you, but to have to endure more than that…

He sighed, knocking on the door to the Gilgas house. He knew Theresa and Santo relatively well, but to be honest, he didn't see anyone that often. He had not had Nnoitra in Chemistry yet, but he knew the family from his time working in the ER. He heard Theresa's voice announce she was coming to the door and waited. He loved living here, the smell of the beach always made him smile. He smiled as the door opened to reveal the tall matriarch of the Gilgas.

Kisuke had always thought the tall, gaunt woman was beautiful, in a very unique way, of course. She smiled at him, her teeth crooked and seeming to go every direction in her mouth. Some thought that it was odd that she didn't have it fixed. Urahara knew that it didn't matter, she had a genuine smile, and that was more important that straight teeth in his books. He knew a bit about her history, how her family had delayed her medical treatments due to belonging to a religious cult that believed in the power of prayer. She now wore very few skirts, and today she wore a pair of shorts and a light t-shirt today, and he was again astounded by how tall the woman was. She was only six foot two, but still, for a woman, it was so rare to see. He himself was actually shorter than her. When she smiled, though, Kisuke thought it was brilliant, despite the fact, he tried to follow her lazy eye sometimes when he talked to her. Her dark hair was pulled up in the usual ponytail today.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Gilga," Kisuke said, nodding to her.

"Theresa, you know that, Kisuke. Come in. I'll let Nnoi know you're here," she said, ushering him into the living room.

Santo was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed reading a paper. Santo was a darker skinned Lantino man, with his hair trimmed short. He did have a distinguishing scar that ran from above his left eyebrow and extended down to the corner of his lip. Santo didn't speak, merely grunted acknowledgement of Kisuke's presence. On the table was the current issue of "High Times" and he saw that Theresa was drinking one of the therapeutic "teas" that she bought. Of course, he knew that Theresa struggle with daily pain, and the use of the medicinal marijuana helped her to even function on her worse days. He looked up to see Szayel come out of the bedroom.

"Hey, Proff, how's it going?" he asked, nodding at him.

"Well, I am unsure yet, I just got here, are you going to explain what has happened that you can't take this boy to the emergency room?" he asked, glancing between Szayel and Theresa.

Theresa sighed. "The poor thing was in the yard Friday night, out cold, _mijo_ went and found him. He refused to go to the _policia_ or to the emergency room, and he's scared," she said sadly. "I've tried to talk to the _pobrecito_ , _pero_ …" she said, sighing and glancing toward the door.

Kisuke nodded. "Alright, let's have a look," he said heaving a heavy sigh.

He entered the room to see that Nnoitra was seating on the bed half asleep against the headboard, one long arm draped around a smaller boy how had fallen asleep against him sitting up. Kisuke frowned and saw that the boy was wearing a t-shirt that obviously belonged to Nnoitra. From what little he could see of the boy's legs, he was bruised, badly.

"Yo, Nnoi," Szayel said, walking up and shaking Nnoitra's shoulder gently.

"What…" he muttered, blinking his one visible eye rapidly. "Ah, hey, you're here," he muttered, moving to reposition himself.

Szayel looked at him. "First, you might want to read what we found, we can't really say much, he doesn't talk a lot, though he did earlier a bit," he said and motioned to the computer.

Kisuke sat down and audibly gasped when he read the names in the article. "No…"

Szayel exchanged a confused glance with Nnoitra. "What's up, Proff?"

"These people, Isshin Kurosaki and Ryuken Ishida…I went to school with them at SoCal…we were all going for our medical doctor degree at the same time…" he said softly. "Dr. Unohana also attended with us," he said thoughtfully. "I didn't know them overly well, but…" He turned and looked at the sleeping boy on the bed. "Twelve years?" he whispered, standing and moving around to sit on the bed beside him.

"Yeah," Szayel said. "Nnoi, tell him what you found."

"Ah, yeah, the dogs were barking, and he was laying out in the back in a pair of undershorts and a dirty t-shirt. That was Friday night, well early Saturday morning. All day yesterday he slept, but when he did wake up, he would run into the bathroom and lock himself in for several hours at a time. I tried putting him in this bed, but I'd wake up in the night, and he'd moved to lay on the floor beside me again," Nnoitra said, glancing down at him. "I called Szay and we got him undressed and bathed, with some effort, and he's covered in bruises and scars. He says that his cousin, Uryu, found out his uncle was doing something bad and wanted to get him away and said he couldn't do that to him, whatever that is."

Kisuke bit his lip, because he understood now why Szay believed he might have been abused more than phsycially. "Okay, wake him up, I'll check him over, see what kind of injuries we're dealing with."

Nnoitra nodded, shaking Ichigo gently until he muttered and his eyes fluttered open. "Huh? Is it time to cook breakfast, uncle?" he said quietly until his eyes cleared and he realized that someone was here that he didn't know.

Nnoitra gripped him as he jerked and tried to roll off the bed, eyes wide and wild. "Easy, easy, Ichigo, this is Kisuke Urahara, he's a doctor we trust."

Ichigo's eyes didn't leave Kisuke's face, he simply stared at him. "He's a doctor, he'll tell uncle, and uncle will be mad, he's a doctor, he said all doctors were like him, please, I wanna go…" he whimpered, trying to wriggle out of Nnoitra's grip to no avail.

"Settle down, now, Ichi," Nnoitra said with a firm tone to his voice and to Kisuke's surprise, he did just that, stilling, his breath still rapid, but listening to what Nnoi said without hesitation.

Kisuke nodded. "Ichigo, I need to know about your injuries. So I need to see them. Can I take off this shirt?"

Ichigo's eyes went wide and he started to shake his head but Nnoitra's hands were already slipping the shirt up and over his head. Ichigo paused and covered himself with his hands immediately, a full body blush going over him immediately. He chewed his lip and stared at the bed.

Kisuke frowned, moving to get a better look. "There are a lot of bruises, lots of different ages, but these deep red ones are bad, keep an eye on them," he said, moving Ichigo's arm to look down at it closer.

There were multiple layers of fingerprint bruises, and as he felt further, when he got to his forearm he felt an old spiral fracture of the ulna that hadn't been splinted. He winced to think about how that would have hurt. Obviously, his abuser liked to grab him by the arms, the finger print bruising was present on both arms, and usually spiral breaks came when an arm was twisted. He saw that the backs his forearms both had a pattern of large, round bruising, like he…

Kisuke frowned, leaning back and then moving to touch his face. Immediately, he threw both arms over his head and whimpered. He gasped, realizing he was exposed and covered himself up again with his hands, eyes darting up and back to the bed. Kisuke swallowed and nodded.

"Ichigo, I have to feel your ribs, so I'm going to need you to lay on your back. Here," he said, reaching over and snatching the sheet. "We'll cover you up, okay?"

Ichigo stared at him again blankly until Nnoitra spoke up. "Ichi, lay down for him. You're being uncooperative." Kisuke glanced at Nnoitra and saw that the other man had figured out that being firm with Ichigo was the only way to get him to listen. Most likely, it was part of his extreme lack of socialization and the constant abuse.

Ichigo slid under the sheet, looking positively terrified of Kisuke. Nnoitra, laid down beside him though, and put a hand on Ichigo's chest. "Calm down, okay, Ichi?" he said softly and Kisuke watched the boy tremble, but he didn't try to get away from him.

Kisuke pulled the sheet down to Ichigo's waist and started to feel around his ribcage. What he felt appalled him because he'd had several broken ribs from what he could tell, some healed well, others appeared to have never been taken care of when they were broken. His entire chest was beaten nearly bluish-black and every time Kisuke touched him, Kisuke could see that Ichigo was trying not to cry out. There was a steady stream of quiet tears from his eyes, and he was trying very hard to breath normally.

"No new breaks, some old ones, though," Kisuke said, rolling the sheet down further as he pressed on his stomach to check for anything internal.

When he pressed near his liver area, Ichigo did cry out, grabbing Nnoitra's arm and biting down on his lip. "His liver is bruised, at least, I'd rather have him checked and make sure it isn't torn or bleeding. I can take a blood sample back with me, but he really needs xrays and CT scans at the hospital…" he said, moving away from his liver and down to his pelvis to press on the intestinal area. He felt the boy tense several times when he pushed on different areas.

"I need to check your back," he said, and helped him roll to his side, but stopped him from rolling to his front. He didn't want to cause pain to his other bruises. "That's what I was afraid of," he muttered, pressing against some bruising over his kidneys. He felt him jolt several times and knew even if he didn't admit it, he most likely had mild to moderate bruising to both his kidneys from being beating in his back. He sat back and sighed.

"Well, he's got some major bruising. I don't think he's got any interal hemorrhaging, he doesn't seem to be feverish or anything. However, I would like to make sure he hasn't had any trauma to the bowel and rectum, if you really think that…"

Nnoitra didn't want to put him through the embarrassment of having Kisuke check him there if there wasn't an issue. He reached over and turned Ichigo's face to him.

"Ichi, I need you to tell me what you mean when you say that your uncle did something that Uryu said he wasn't supposed to do. I need to know what that thing is," he said, keeping his one eye locked on Ichigo's two brown ones.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "He-he…did bad things…" he said softly.

"What exactly did he do? What did he say about what he was doing?" Nnoitra said.

"He said…he said…I was useless, a waste of space, that I didn't even make a g-good f-fuck t-t-toy…" he said finally, eyes wide and trembling all over as he spoke.

Kisuke sighed, eyes closing for a moment, and he nodded to Nnoitra. "I'll do the exam, why don't you let him lay in your lap. It's not ideal, but I take it you don't think I can get him out of here to the clinic?"

Nnoitra shook his head as he moved to lean up against the headboard, spreading his legs out and pulling Ichigo up into his lap. Ichigo grabbed the sheet to pull it with him, clutching it against him to keep himself covered. Kisuke wondered exactly how he was going to manage this… The positioning of his patient was going to be impossible to see anything, even with the tools he brought. He was going have to do this in reverse, he guessed.

"I don't think it is a good idea to take him out as long as this uncle is out there looking for him," Nnoitra said. "I'm afraid that if he encounters him, he'll run again, and he might get hold of him again. I just…I don't know who we can trust."

Kisuke nodded. "Alright, this is going to be awkward, but you're going to have to let him hold onto you, let him put his head on your shoulder, facing you, and if you can help hold his hips still, that will make this go faster. Szayel, I'll need you to hold the light for me," he said, handing an LED light from his bag to him. "He'll have to kneel somewhat, but I'll check things as quickly as possible. I'm most worried about fissures and tears, because they can lead to infections if not treated. Has he had any bleeding?"

Nnoitra shook his head. "No idea, he doesn't let us in the bathroom with him," he said, trying to get Ichigo to sit on his knees.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo said, glancing at Kisuke. "What…you already saw everything, go away!" he said, his voice nearly cracking.

Nnoitra reached over and pulled his face to him. "Hey, stop that, you are being a brat. Let him make sure you aren't injured from what he did. He's a doctor, he's not doing anything to hurt you."

"Professor, now," Kisuke said, pulling on a pair of gloves and pulling out the tools he'd hoped he wouldn't need.

"But I don't want him to do anything!" Ichigo whined, and Nnoitra smiled.

"This is for your health and safety, so you are going to do what he says to do, understand me?" Nnoitra said, that same authoritative tone sneaking into his voice again.

Ichigo swallowed and nodded, letting Nnoitra guide him into the odd position, half kneeling, half leaning over him. Kisuke nodded, thinking this would suffice, at least he would be able to see well enough, as he pushed Ichigo's knees a bit farther apart and picked up the sheet off his rear.

"Ichigo, I'm going to touch you, okay? I'm feeling for any tearing inside you, if anything hurts when I touch it, just let me know," he said, squeezing the gel on his fingers as he began to exam him.

Ichigo's arms tightened around Nnoitra's neck and he whimpered against his neck. Nnoitra put a hand on his back and hushed him, trying to keep him calm. He was trembling all over, both from kneeling and from what was happening.

"Okay, good news is nothing serious," Kisuke said, feeling a slight tear, and several scars from previous tearing. "A small fissure, nothing major, just need to watch out for infection, just keep an eye for a fever," he said, pressing around the prostate to make sure there had been no trauma there. He nodded, satisfied, leaning back and pulling off the gloves. "No major trauma, but there are signs of old tearing and trauma. This is definitely not the first time this has happened," he said, frowning at the slight blood on his gloves. "There's significant bruising, though, this was done with intent to make him hurt," Kisuke said, frowning. "Patterns are consistent with a rather violent sexual assault, without any lubrication. It's a wonder he's not more injured, however, considering that he's had multiple assaults, it would be consistent."

As soon as Kisuke had moved his hands, Ichigo had collapsed into Nnoitra's lap, pulling his legs into himself as tightly as he could, and sobbing into his shoulder. He tried to tighten the sheet around him even more. Nnoitra sighed, patting him gently.

"Hush, baby, he's all done, we are just going to have to keep an eye on things, okay?" Nnoitra said, stroking Ichigo's back as he sat there.

Szayel gave Nnoitra a long look and then grinned. Nnoitra looked up at him and frowned. "What the hell you grinnin' at, pink haired bastard?" Nnoitra muttered.

"You," he said, smirking even wider. "Look at you, going all care giver," he said, a devilish glint in his golden eyes.

"Care giver?" Nnoitra queried, and then realized what he was talking about. "That's that kinky shit you talk about, isn't it? I'm not doing anything weird!"

Szayel shrugged and Kisuke shook his head, pulling out the butterfly and tubes to take a blood sample. He tied off Ichigo's arm and the boy just stared at him as he took the sample quickly, noticing that he didn't flinch, just stayed there, clutching to Nnoitra like he was a life line. He nodded and stood.

"I'll get this to my lab, I'll call and let you know if there's anything worrying in the tests," he said, smiling as he headed toward the door.

"Wait, what do I do about him?" Nnoitra asked, frowning deeply.

"Take care of him," Kisuke said with a shrug. "I don't know, I'm a doctor, a chemist, I know drugs, biology, not psychology. I suggest finding someone who does mental health, because I'm not it," he said leaving the room. Szayel followed him out and closed the door, leaving Nnoitra to sigh, the naked boy curled into his lap, nuzzling into his chest. Well, hell, Nnoitra thought to himself. Wasn't this just rosy?

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Kisuke came and saw that Teresa and Santo were waiting with their adopted son, Tesra. He smiled at them, and Szayel came and sat down on the sofa by Tesra, sighing.

"He's been abused," Kisuke said, looking between Theresa and Santo. "Pretty badly. I'm taking blood back, but his kidneys and liver have both some mild to moderate bruising, and some other deep tissue and muscle bruises. He's been recently sexually assaulted as well. That explains a lot of his reluctance, but I'm no counselor," Kisuke explained slowly. "I know that you have some experience dealing with trauma, so I believe that you are far more capable of helping the boy than most people."

Kisuke knew about Tesra. Most of Las Noches knew the story about Tesra Gilga, actually. It had made national news, after all. Of course, only the barest facts had made the news. Even that, though, was enough to make people understand how bad it had been for the boy.

Teresa and Santo had been watching the Tournament of Roses Parade during breakfast on New Year's Day in 2000. They rarely watched TV while they ate, but it was a special occasion. Nnoitra and Santo had taken their dishes to the sink during a commercial when Santo looked out the kitchen widow to see Tesra covered in blood and stumbling toward their house. Santo had run out immediately with Nnoitra and they had gotten him into their house because they heard screaming from Tesra's house. They called the police and what they found had horrified even the strongest among them. Tesra's mother was dead, and when the police got there, his father tried to attack them with a knife. They ended up shooting him. Tesra was taken to the hospital immediately, and it took only a short time to figure out what had happened.

Tesra's father had been abusive for as long as the boy remembered, to both him and his mother. The Y2K stuff that year had him more agitated than normal, triggering abnormally high degrees of paranoia. The fact that he was a PCP and meth addict only made the paranoia worse. Tesra had been beaten horribly that night, to the point that his father had nearly smashed on of his hands with a claw hammer, then ended up putting his eye out with it. It was after that that Tesra had managed to get out the door when his father turned on his mother with the hammer, beating her to death with it. When the cops went into the house, they found that it was infested with roaches and maggots. There were blood stains dried in various places in the house, and there wasn't an unbroken piece of furniture to be found.

Tesra had often spent the night with Nnoitra, and they would often care for him when he was sick or hungry. At the school, he never had food, and one of the teachers or other kids would get him something to eat every day. He would tell them that his father said they didn't deserve nice things or money. He was often told they were worthless.

At the mention of it, Tesra looked up, his one eye going between Teresa and Kisuke. "He's…he's hurt too, huh?" he said quietly. "Mama will help him, so will Nnoi. He likes Nnoi, sometimes…sometimes we have to find a safe person, you know," he said quietly, looking out the window and smiling. "Here was always my safe place, even before everything changed."

Kisuke nodded and said goodbye to everyone, heading out to run the blood tests he needed to run. He was hoping he didn't find anything too horrible.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Cang Du lounged on the sofa in the living room. It didn't smell as bad up here as it did up in the attic where the cooking went on. He didn't mind the smell much anymore, but sometimes it got too much so he had to come up. They'd put in a filtration system in the roof so none of the smell got out, and they lived outside the city limits of Las Noches anyway. No one really bothered them being a few miles outside the border of the town. His pipeline was a good one, though. He looked up when he saw one of the dealers come in, Kugo. Boy that mother fucker was crazy, he thought as he came in. He was always twitchy and seemed to hear things. Whatever, Cang thought as he took a long draw off his joint. Personally, he didn't do any of the hard drugs. Made it hard as hell to run a business if you were methed up.

"Yo, Kugo, how's it hangin'?" he asked slowly.

"Good, good, got good sales today, but can't find a regular," he muttered, then saw on the other side of the room, on a futon, was the person he was looking for. "Well, shit, there he is," he muttered.

Cang leaned over the back of the chair and looked. "Oh, that fucker?" he muttered. "Yeah, he came over here the other night, all fucked up, said he couldn't go home, needed a hit. Might have taken too much of the script shit you sell him. He hasn't been awake for like thirty-six hours, might make sure he's not dead…" Cang said frowning.

Kugo nodded, walking over and pulling on Ryūken's shoulder. He groaned and cut his eyes up at Kugo, both blood shot and rheumy. "Good, ya ain't dead," Kugo said, smiling. "Went by the hospital, said you didn't come to work today."

Ryūken grunted, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Yeah, got anything for me?" he muttered. "Shit's worn off," he said, looking up at him.

Kugo didn't think he'd ever seen the man look like this. He was always in a fresh suit, perfectly styled hair, immaculate nails, and placid. This was unusual to say the least. "Yeah, man, got some 'ludes, some percs, vics, some Xanax, and a few 'dones. Probably got some more tomorrow, but you usually don't go through them that fast."

Ryūken snorted. "Just bring them here, I can't go to work or home," he muttered.

Cang turned around and stared. "What the hell happened? Did you piss hot or something?"

"No, just don't fucking ask," he muttered, standing and stumbling to the bathroom. "Leave it the fuck alone," he said, slamming the door behind him.

Kugo shook his head. "Good thing the bastard pays in a month advance if he ain't working no more," he muttered, leaving the baggie on the futon and leaving.

"Hey, Kugo," came a female voice from one other rooms.

Kugo looked up to see Bambietta, wearing nothing but a white miniskirt and the stupid white hat with a chaos wheel on it. She was technically wearing a white lace body stocking under it but it didn't leave anything to the imagination. She was smoking, of course, and the acrid smell of the meth hit him. He hated the ammonia smell that it sometimes carried. She was starting to look bad, though, her face was drawn and he could count her ribs easily. It was obvious the meth and her were not mixing well. That's why he stuck to scripting.

"Bambietta, how's it going?" he asked, smiling as she came up to him.

"Good, how's that alien search of yours?" she asked, smirking at him.

Kugo's eyes lit up. "I found the alien that's here, I'm going to get him to bring the aliens back for me," he said smiling at her.

"Good for you, Kugo, good for you," she said, walking away toward the stairs.

Kugo smiled. Yes, he had to figure out where he was… He was still thinking about the visitors when he headed back outside, picking up the package Cang left for him by the entry. He had to make money somehow, he thought.


	5. Ghosts of Tears

Chapter Five

Ghosts of Tears

Jūshirō sat on the sofa and waited for Gin to arrive. He glanced at where Shunsui was sitting at the dining room table reading over his manuscripts. Shunsui was a writer, well, he was a writer in his free time. He taught English at Serietei University part time, night classes, and the rest of the time he wrote under a pen name. He wrote erotica focusing on alternative life styles, from fetish stories, to intense fiction about bondage and domination, up to just plain sex stories for all genders. Jūshirō couldn't make it through one of his stories without blushing profusely because he was very good at it. Of course, he was also very good and saying just the right things go get his much quieter husband in the mood. Jūshirō couldn't even begin to say the things that Shunsui would whisper in his ear.

Uryū had gone to sit on the beach and had yet to come back, and he thought perhaps that was best until he could speak to Gin first. The bell rang and he got up and answered it to look surprised because there were two men standing there and not just Gin.

"Jūshirō, I'm glad to see you look well," Gin said, smirking, looking almost exactly the same as he had when they had attended school together. "Ah, I'd like you to meet Isshin Kurosaki," he said gesturing to the dark haired man standing beside him with hands shoved deep into his jean pockets.

Jūshirō frowned, nodding, "Ah, yes, come in, Uryū went down to the beach to get some air. He's having a very hard time with this whole situation."

Isshin stepped in following Gin and looked at the white haired man. "He should be having a hard time with this. Why didn't he go to the police before now?" he said, his voice trembling as he spoke, just slightly.

The door opened then and they all turned to see Uryū come in with another, much taller, man. The taller man was holding him up, it seemed and steering him into the house. Uryū locked eyes on his uncle that he'd not seen in twelve years and broke down again. He let go of Chad and ran to him, hugging his arms around Isshin's chest and sobbing into him.

"Uncle…uncle…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…I…don't know what to say…you should be so mad…you should hate me…please…" he sobbed, and Isshin's eyes filled with tears before he even realized what was happening.

"Uryū, oh gods, Uryū," Isshin gasped, hugging the boy to him as tightly as he could, resting his chin on Uryū's head. "Don't, please, I don't hate you for anything," he said, clutching him harder as he felt him heave choking sobs into him.

"I tried, Uncle, I tried…I couldn't talk for so long, Uncle Isshin. It was four years before I spoke again…I didn't…I didn't know what to do…and Father said…he said he'd k-kill him if I told anyone, so…so I just pretended like it didn't happen, Uncle Isshin, I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want him to hurt Ichi, I didn't want him to hurt him, but he did, and again and again, and then, and then…" Uryū stopped and gasped, looking up into Isshin's face. "And, and, then…when he started to do…do that…I had to stop it, somehow…I couldn't…I couldn't watch him do that to him, I tried to get him out, but Father came after us and I don't know where he is or where Ichi ran to but he's gone!"

Isshin let his own tears fall on the boy's upturned face. How could he have for a second been angry? How could he have forgotten that Uryū would have suffered as well? He felt like a horrible person and he just held onto the boy as he looked at him with tear filled eyes. He just pulled him back into him and squeezed him in a way he was relatively sure his own father had never done. He ran his hands over his head and let him sob into him for a long time, it seemed. Jūshirō had gestured to Gin and Chad, taking them into the dining room so Isshin and Uryū could have privacy for a few moments. They sat around the dining table, and waited until Isshin and Uryū came into the room. Isshin held an arm around Uryū's thin shoulders and sat down in the chair next to him, holding onto his hand as he wiped his own tears away.

"Okay, um, so…Gin explained what's happened so far, and I think I have a decent understanding of what's happened. I just don't understand _how_ this could have gone on for twelve years and no one has noticed…" Isshin said softly.

Gin nodded. "Now that I know where Ichigo has been, I've been able to investigate some things. Uryū, if you want to fill in anything, please, do, as there are some gaps in the knowledge I've acquired," Gin sighed, pulling opening his case and pulling out a small tablet.

"So, what I have goes back all twelve years. It seems that Ryūken and Uryū officially moved not long after the murders took place. They have moved at least once a year ever since then," he said, looking at Uryū. "How many schools were you in, Uryū?" he said.

Uryū shrugged. "Sometimes I'd stay for a few months, the longest was seven months, but then Father thought that someone knew about what was happening in the neighborhood, so we had to leave quickly…" He paused and looked thoughtful. "I…I've managed to stay in the same school since I started here at SU, but only because I can drive, we've moved…well they did, I spent almost all my times with people from the school, trying to avoid home as much as I could. If…if I wasn't there I didn't have to think about it."

Gin nodded. "Yeah, looks like there were some gaps where you were homeschooled as well. Ryūken himself had several dozen jobs over that time. It looks like he was dismissed on several occasions, but the records as to why are sealed. There's records of a malpractice suite, but that's also been sealed. I sent my man, Kira, over the hospital, and someone came by there today looking for him, but he didn't overhear the name. Other than that, there are multiple noise ordinance violations, a few times where he seems to have paid off tickets. Seems like he left a couple jobs when there had been an incident on the job, and he refused to take the drug testing…" he muttered. "Uryū, did he take drugs?"

Uryū looked up and over to Isshin. "I…I don't know…I wasn't allowed in his bedroom. When I went in there Friday, when I heard Ichi cry out, I…I had to pick the lock…I mean it was a bedroom door, so it wasn't hard, they have those little pressure plates, but I'd never gone in there before. I…I waited for Father to leave, I acted like I was going to school a little earlier, but I waited outside. Then I went back in…" Uryū's eyes filled up with tears again. "He thought I was going to hit him…he thought I was going to be mad at him," he said, biting his lip again.

Isshin squeezed Uryū's hand again. "Uryū, please, you aren't at fault."

"I should have done something sooner!" Uryū said, reaching up and taking off his silver framed glasses and putting them on the table. "I…I could have done something…but I was scared, I'm twenty-one years old, why was I still scared of him?"

Jūshirō spoke up then. "Because he made you scared of him. He told you he was going to kill your cousin if you told anyone. And you knew he could do it easily. He abused you, too, Uryū."

"But not as bad!" Uryū said, rubbing his eyes again. "I mean…I…he would tell me things. Like…when I couldn't talk for so long he told me I was…was a stupid…useless…thing. But I couldn't talk. I couldn't do it. No matter what the words wouldn't come out. And I tried, so hard…then he made me…made me…made me…" Uryū looked like he was about to panic, so Isshin moved his chair closer to him and put his arm around him. "He made me hit Ichi. He said…said if I didn't do it was going to beat me for being…so stupid…" Uryū stared at his hands for a long time. "I don't know why. My voice came back after that. I'm so horrible because I felt better after I hit him! Why would I feel better?" he said, nearly wailing and covering his face with both hands.

Jūshirō sighed, closing his eyes for a long time. "Uryū, you felt like you had some control again. Before that, everything was out of your control. And you were avoiding being hurt yourself. You were almost fourteen when you started speaking again, weren't you?"

Uryū nodded, putting his hands down. "He…Father…he told me that he guessed I wasn't stupid after all, that…that I was faking not being able to talk, and he…he beat me anyway," he said, rubbing his arm, looking away. That had been the first time he'd had his arm broken. At least he'd gotten a cast, unlike his cousin. "You…you could never tell what he was going to be like. One day he'd be nice to me, then the next he'd just be so very awful. He did it to Ichi too."

Jūshirō looked at Isshin and nodded. "Uryū, we need to know about what happened that made you finally break down and try to get you and Ichigo away."

Uryū's eyes went wide and he shook his head, his mouth slightly open and his tongue resting on the bottom of his top teeth. That same crawling sensation that threatened to clamp down on his tongue and make it stop again was there. He was trying to stop it. He was so scared and it was just trying to take his voice away again, and he wanted to make it stop. He gasped, feeling Isshin pull him into his chest.

"Uryū, son, whatever happened is not your fault. You spent twelve years being scared and alone, and trying not to fall apart. You have a family now, Uryū. If I'd known sooner… I should have tried to visit, then maybe I would have seen it, but Ryūken never let me. At first I'd call and he'd say, no, not a good time, and then I stopped calling. So please, don't blame yourself. You did what you had to do to survive," he said, squeezing him tightly. "Karin and Yuzu and me, we're all here, and we're your family, the ones that care about you, and we're going to help you and Ichigo through this, okay?" he said, rocking slightly. "We're going to love you, Uryū, your father obviously forgot how to when Kanae Katagiri died. I invested everything in my daughters to honor my sweet Masaki. He should have done the same to honor the wonderful woman that Kanae was."

Uryū looked at him and nodded. "You…you mean that? You want me to be…your family again?"

Isshin smiled, brushing black strands of hair out of Uryū's face. "Your mother was Masaki's sister, her beautiful little sister. You have her heart, I see. And you are all that is left of your mother in this world. I loved Kanae as a sister, as a friend, as beloved family…you are that family, too, Uryū."

Uryū took a deep shaky breath. "It…it started about six months ago. I don't know what happened, I just…I came home and Ichigo was sitting in the bathroom, at that house, that's where he slept. He looked…I don't know…different. I asked if something was wrong and he just shook his head and ended up climbing in the bathtub and closing the shower curtain. That was always his favorite place to hide. He seemed to still think he could hide in there. I always knew where he was. I don't know, something about the small enclosure, not being able to see who was outside, he liked it. But…what was the strangest part was that when Father came home, he'd stopped and gotten McDonalds. That alone was rare, we usually ordered Thai or Indian food for delivery. But…but he had gotten a meal for Ichigo. And that was really odd. He never let Ichigo…" He paused and took another steadying breath. "He never gave him food like that, usually, I'd take him something after we ate. When I got old enough to have my own money, I'd sneak things in for him, let him eat whatever it was, and take the wrappers with me so Father didn't know. It wasn't ever much because…because if he found out I had brought food into the house…"

"Why was that an issue?" Jūshirō asked, frowning slightly at the strange statement.

Uryū licked his lips and chewed on his bottom for a moment. "See, he…he…he said that he fed us enough. He said there was no reason to bring anything into the home that he hadn't bought. When…when I was in school, I was sixteen, I think, and I'd had a friend give me some candy. I forgot to take it out of my bag, so I threw the wrapper away…and he just…" Uryū winced. "It was probably the worst time for me. I had to call in sick to school for a week, he got a doctor he worked with to give him a note saying I had pneumonia, but was because he'd blacked one of my eyes really bad. He locked me in my bedroom, telling me I couldn't leave. I…I had a bathroom, at least, in that house. And... I had water, but all he gave me to eat for the week was a bowl of ramen a day. I think I lost ten pounds by the time I got back to school, and no one doubted the story that I had pneumonia, because I looked like I had been really sick."

"Control of food, money, everything," Jūshirō said, nodding.

"Well, after that happened, I didn't notice anything for a while, until I was gone for a week, spent most of it at my buddy Renji's dorm room, and when I got back, Ichigo had these little toy figures. I asked him where they'd come from, and he said Father bought him some superheroes to play with while everyone was gone. I…I didn't know what to think. Then, there were a few other times, when Father did really out of character things, gave him special gifts, you know, or privileges that he never got. Then, I just…the thought occurred to me that he might be doing something really awful and these gifts…they were apologies for whatever it was."

Uryū stopped, twisting his fingers around each other for a long moment. "See, when he had one of the bad times, when he blacked my eye and locked me up for a week, when he broke my arm once, when he did something really bad, he'd buy me something. Like, after the week long thing, he'd gotten me a laptop. When he broke my arm, he'd gotten me a PlayStation. And there were other things, you know, books, games, a new phone, always after he'd done something he told me he shouldn't have done. He'd apologize with these things, and…and I'd just go on, telling him I forgave him…" Uryū reached out and clutched Isshin's hand. Isshin clutched it in return and nodded to him.

"But, I thought…what could be worse than hitting him? He was never sorry for that with Ichigo. He'd broken his arm once, and I wrapped it with a stick I found outside because he wouldn't take him to the doctor. He'd been black and blue more times than I could count. So…I knew it had to be bad, really bad. Then, Friday, he was just sitting there, in the bathtub sobbing under the shower. And he said he wasn't supposed to tell me about it. He said he couldn't tell me because Father said that I'd be jealous and mad at him," he said. "And I knew, I knew then exactly what he'd done. I knew that he'd finally taken the final step that I wouldn't, couldn't, stand. I just looked into Ichi's face and I saw it. He didn't even understand it, you know. He hasn't been to school, and he still reads at like a fourth grade level because Ryūken wouldn't let me teach him. I tried, but I got hit for it, so I stopped. He…he hasn't seen anyone but us. He doesn't know about the rest of the world, not anymore. And I don't think he knew what had happened. But I knew, when I stood outside the bedroom door, after Ichigo yelled out, and I put my ear to it, then I heard Ryūken. I heard him say something…and I didn't want to believe it. He'd told Ichi…told him to go bathe…that…that he didn't…" Uryū's tongue paused again, pressing on the bottom of his front teeth, the crawling sensation reaching up his throat again. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook it away. "He said he didn't even make a decent fuck toy. I didn't want to think that he, this man that was supposed to be my father, could do that…but then, Ichi's eyes…I couldn't…I couldn't take it. I left and I called Dr. Ukitake, and told him I was bringing Ichigo to him that night. That I had to."

Isshin hugged the boy into him and just held him for a very long time. Gin nodded. "Okay, Isshin, I'm going to go to the place on that video. Do you…do you want to go with me or stay here? He might be there."

Isshin swallowed and glanced at Uryū. "I'll stay with Uryū. Just…just find out what's happening and call me. The girls are the hotel, they'll be fine. I told them to keep their phones on them and text me if they went out."

Gin nodded. "If you're sure," he said, standing and heading for the door, nearly running into the silent and completely forgotten Chad. He had been standing just beside the doorway the entire time and everyone had just forgotten he was even there.

"Oh," he said, staring at the tall man. He looked back at Gin. "Are you friends with Uryū?"

Chad nodded and just stood there silently. Gin glanced at Jūshirō who nodded gently, apparently knowing who the tall boy was. He shook his head and headed out to this Gilga's mechanic place…"

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Teresa was dozing on the couch after having a very nice and potent cannabis cookie. She had some that she saved for the days when she was suffering the most emotionally and physically. Today qualified under both accounts.

After Dr. Urahara had left, Szayel had taken off as well. Nnoitra had come out a little while later and gone to the garage to work for a while on one of his cars. She'd been surprised when she looked up to see a puff of orange dash past to the doorway out to the garage again. He apparently was wearing one of Nnoi's shirts, as he looked like he was wearing a tunic dress. Santo had gone out to work on a muffler for one of the local kids who had a rundown ford escort. Tesra was sitting on the TV playing a video game with headphones on so she could sleep.

She came out of the doze when the doorbell rang again. She frowned, standing slowly, seeing that the other boy and Nnoi hadn't returned yet, and headed to the door to see who in the world was coming around this late in the afternoon. It was almost evening, she thought as she opened it to see someone she didn't know at all.

"Can I help you?" she asked, frowning deeply at a man with white hair and a suit on.

Gin looked at the very tall, very unique looking woman and thought she might be one of the tallest women he'd come across.

"Ah, yes, um, just I need to see if you have seen this person?" he said, pulling out the missing person's paper with Ichigo on it.

Teresa recognized the boy that Nnoi had brought in easily enough, so her eyes narrowed. "And who are you to be asking around?"

Gin swallowed, seeing that if Ichigo was here, he was going to have to prove that he wasn't who he was scared of. "Um, Gin Ichimaru, ma'am. I'm a private investigator from San Diego and the surrounding area. I've been in the employ of this boy's father, Isshin Kurosaki, for the last six years to try and find his son. I came across a young lady who had a video of your son, a Nnoitra, I believe is the name, and this was in the background," he said, shuffling the still from the video out and showing her.

"The boy's cousin, Uryū Ishida, is with Isshin now, and we know that he tried to get his cousin Ichigo away, but he lost both of them when his father, Ryūken, caught them trying to escape. I…I didn't come here right away, in case there was no relation to the case, but I heard about the incident at your place on Friday night from a young lady who nearly ran into Ryūken Ishida on the road near your house. So I am here to see if Ichigo is here, and to hopefully reunite him with his father and sisters," Gin finished, nodding at her before handing her the files to look at.

Teresa looked over everything, which to her surprise included this Gin's license and copies of other records to show that he was a legitimist private investigator. Other than that, the publicly available files were in the folder. She looked at him for a long moment. "Come in, have a seat, and I'll have Nnoitra come talk to you."

Gin nodded, bowing slightly as he entered their home. It was a nicely kept home, he noticed. He saw that a young man with blond hair was sitting cross legged in front of a TV and playing a video game. He sat down on the sofa as the tall woman went out of his view.

Teresa came to the door and saw that the boy was clutching to the doorframe that led out into the garage and watching Nnoitra intently. She cleared her throat behind him and he nearly jumped out of his skin, screaming and zipping out the door and dropping to the floor behind Nnoitra's legs, surprising him into slamming his head on the underside of the hood of the neon he was working on.

"Fuck!" Nnoitra gasped, putting a hand on his head and looking down, surprised both by the noise and being suddenly grabbed by Ichigo.

Teresa heard Gin come quickly down to where they were. She didn't fault him, she supposed hearing someone scream like that would incite anyone to check it out. She looked at him as he came up, a concerned look on his face. She put her fingers to her lips and nodded out into the garage. Gin moved up and looked out, frowning because that was definitely Isshin's son.

Nnoitra knelt down slowly rubbing his head.

"Ichi-baby, what the hell? Why are you in bed asleep?" he asked, frowning.

Ichigo clutched at his leg and looked up with him, his brown eyes wide. "I woke up and you were gone," he said quietly, peeking around Nnoitra where he could still see Teresa standing in the doorway. "Sh-she surp-prised me," he whispered.

Nnoitra turned his head back and saw his mother standing in the doorway, arms crossed, but there was someone else there he didn't know. He didn't like that, knowing that this man was probably looking for Ichigo.

"Mama, who is this _puta_?" he muttered, glaring at Gin.

"Nnoi," his mom said, eyes narrowing. "Watch your language, _mijo_. He is here to see about reuniting this one with his _padre_ , not the man who hurt him, the one who has been looking for him for twelve years," she said, giving Nnoi the look that said that she believed him.

For some reason, Nnoitra felt a pang go through his chest at the thought of letting Ichigo go anywhere else. He sighed and looked at him.

"Okay, Ichi-baby, come on, back in the house with you," he said, standing up.

Ichigo didn't move, he just kept staring in the doorway and clutching Nnoitra's leg. Nnoitra let out a long slow breath, then just leaned over and lifted him up into his arms easily. Ichigo gasped a little but otherwise, just held onto Nnoitra's neck, hiding his face in his chest. He nodded at his mother and walked past her and the white haired man and went into the living room. He felt Ichigo tense, because he hadn't brought him out into the living room before. He sat down and tried to dislodge Ichigo from his arms, but found it was useless, so he sighed and rolled his eyes at his mom as she sat down on the recliner. The new arrival sat down on the loveseat and looked at Nnoitra and Ichigo.

"Um, as I told your mother, Nnoitra, I'm a private investigator. I've been on the Kurosaki case for the last six years or so. His father employed me to try and find out who had kidnapped him. In that time, I've gone into some very dark and horrible places looking for him. I came across the YouTube video that Miss Lilynette Gingerbuck posted. I saw Ichigo in the background, or at least, we hoped it was him. His cousin Uryū is with his father now, with a Dr. Jūshirō Ukitake that works at the university." Gin kept looking at the person he was finally seeing in real life. He was wearing a way too big t-shirt, one of the tall Nnoitra's no doubt, and that was all. He could see a lot of bruises on his legs and arms.

Nnoitra stared at him for a long moment, feeling Ichigo tighten his grip while he was talking. "What is it that you intend to do?" he asked.

"I wish to reunite Ichigo with his father and his sisters," Gin said, nodding.

Ichigo turned, fixing his gaze on Gin for the first time and Gin winced. His eye was badly bruised, and he had bruising around his mouth as well. "I can't go to him!" he said, his voice nearly cracking. "He'll send me to jail, he'll put me in jail, he didn't want me! Uncle rescued me because pop was going to get rid of me, he did it to save me, he took me away and hid me from the police so I didn't go to jail with the bad people!" he said in a rush.

Gin frowned. "What? Ichigo, your father would never do such a thing."

"But…but he told me…he told me that if…if I left that I'd go to jail for murder! I murdered them! I caused them to die, Uncle said so. He said pop was going to send me off because he was so mad!" Ichigo said, staring at him.

Gin was suddenly even more horrified than he already was. "Ichigo…your uncle told you that you caused your mother's death and your aunt?"

Ichigo nodded furiously. "I did it, he didn't know how, but he said that pop knew it and he was going to send me away with the bad people and they would beat me and do bad things to me, but uncle would keep them away…"

Gin looked at Nnoitra and saw that the other man wasn't surprised. Nnoitra nodded to him. "He's been saying that ever since I found him outside, passed out. I tried to tell him it was impossible, I found the reports…but he won't believe me."

Gin looked at him and nodded. "If…if Ryūken has been telling him the same thing for twelve years…no wonder he believes it."

Nnoitra adjusted the smaller body again, reaching down to pull the t-shirt down where it was trying to ride up on his legs. "I called a friend of mine, he had a doctor come look at him. He said he had a bruised liver and kidneys, bruising to his ribs, and he's been sexually assaulted violently recently, and he had scarring from previous attacks. He took a blood sample, and told us he'd call if there was anything that meant we should take him to the hospital."

Ichigo turned and shook his head at Nnoitra. "I can't go to the hospital! Uncle will find out! The doctors will call the police and they'll come get me!"

Gin groaned and rubbed his forehead. The fiction was very real to Ichigo, and trying to break through this was going to take a lot of time. He saw the way that the boy clung to the freakishly tall man, as though he were some sort of lifeline. They couldn't separate them, not right now, the boy's mental condition was delicate at best. Considering that Uryū's condition was not that much better, he was unsure exactly how to handle this. He sighed, looking up at him.

"Nnoitra, this is a lot for me to ask of you," Gin said, sighing. "But he's in danger as long as we can't locate his uncle. He's unpredictable, and we believe he's very unstable mentally, and possibly using drugs, which means he may have connections to people that could help him find Ichigo and Uryū as well. It is quite obvious he's attached safety to you. I understand this well, while looking for Ichigo I went undercover in some sex trafficking rings, and the young man I employ as my assistant was one of those I ended up getting out. For a long time, he had to stay with us, until he was comfortable enough to have his own house. So I understand this. So I'm going to ask if you would be willing to help us with Ichigo until he recovers enough to regain some normal level of function again. His cousin says that he hasn't been exposed to anyone in twelve years, that he's been closed off in closets and bathrooms, and fed barely enough to keep him alive. He needs constant medical supervision, which his father can provide sufficiently, and he needs help to break this illusion that his uncle has built into his mind." Gin stopped, taking a breath. "So, what I am asking you is if you'll come with us. I want to find a safe place, somewhere that's not associated with Uryū or you because if his uncle can use that information to get to him, he will."

Nnoitra nodded slowly. "He'll go with him, if he comes here," he said, glancing down at Ichigo who stared at his own knees and refused to look at anyone else. "I know that. It's too ingrained in his head. That's why I haven't left here with him. I thought if he saw this uncle, he'd think he had no choice but to go to him."

Gin nodded. "That's very smart thinking," he said smiling at the tall young man.

"You said Uryū is with Dr. Ukitake?" he said thoughtfully.

Gin nodded. "Apparently, Jūshirō Ukitake had approached Uryū last week about his dropping grades and apparently depressed mood. He was trying to take Ichigo to him when his father caught them trying to leave. Ichigo panicked and ran, and Uryū's father followed after him. Uryū went back to Dr. Ukitake's, scared for himself as well."

Nnoitra nodded. "That's fine. Dr. Ukitake is a good guy, I took my basic psychology class from him last year," he said, standing up.

"No, we can't leave!" Ichigo said, looking up at Nnoitra and wriggling in his grip.

Nnoitra narrowed his eye at him. "You settle yourself down, right now," he said in a firm voice that left no room for argument. Ichigo stopped, eyes locked on Nnoitra's face. "You listen here, we are going to do what we have to do to make sure you are safe and well. I want no more argument over it. We are going to meet with Uryū and your father. No one is taking you to jail. And if they tried to take you away from me, I wouldn't let them. Understand?"

Ichigo swallowed, nodding twice and nuzzling his face into Nnoitra's neck again. Nnoitra frowned because he could feel the heat in his face against his shoulder. He shook the thought away and looked over to Gin. "Alright, let's go before anything else happens."

Gin stood slowly, looking over at Teresa who was reading a magazine. She looked up. " _Mijo_ , make sure you make arrangements with your teachers if you miss classes, don't get lazy and behind on your work. Call me if you need anything," she said, smiling at him.

Nnoitra nodded. " _Bien_ , _Mamá_ , I'll call tonight, tell Papa I'll be back when things are settled. Tell him the car I was working on isn't done, he'll have to finish it."

" _Sí, besos_!" she said, looking up at him and tilting her head to the side.

"Ah, _Mamá_ ," Nnoi said, stepping easily over the coffee table and kissing her on the cheek. " _Adios_ ," he said standing and turning back to Gin and nodding.

Gin led them out to his SUV, letting them climb into the back, noticing that Ichigo tried to argue about sitting in the seat and being belted in, but Nnoitra took that tone with him, that sound almost like a parent instructing a child, and Ichigo immediately followed what he said and Gin saw the slight blush that went up his face when he did it. Interesting, he thought, getting in and taking off to the Ukitake house.

Gin didn't notice the man who was standing outside when they came out. Kūgo Ginjō stood on the closest corner to the Gilga's shop. After he'd got done doling out the meds, he'd come here to see if the alien child was here. And he was! But that damn tall freak took him off with someone else now! How was he ever going to get his hands on him and get back to the aliens? He frowned, pacing back and forth and running his hands through his long dark hair, grumbling under his breath.

Kugo had started believing in aliens at a very young age. He'd had a tonsillectomy as a child, and had the misfortune of waking up in the middle of the surgery. He'd been put back out quickly, but the doctors had been wearing bright orange, red, or yellow surgery caps, and had white facemasks on. When he woke up, he became convinced that the aliens were white skinned creatures, with bright colored hair. By the age of sixteen, he'd begun showing worrying symptoms and his parents had treated him for schizophrenia with success until he turned eighteen and left their home. He found that he felt "dull" when he was on his medications, and he didn't hear the aliens any longer. These aliens were all he could have hope for, because they would take him away from everything here.

He had to get his hands on that half alien child. He had to. Otherwise, how would they know he was ready? He had to show them he knew the signs of their coming. If they came for the star child and Kugo didn't have him, he'd be stuck here forever! He couldn't have that…


	6. Ghosts of the Long Road

Chapter Six

Ghosts of the Long Road

Nnoitra wasn't sure what he was getting into, not at all, as he watched the world pass outside the car. He glanced over into the front seat at this Gin fellow. He was trusting him, and he was desperately hoping that his trust was not unfounded or misplaced with this man. He looked up as they pulled into a parking area near a large beach house. He'd never seen Dr. Ukitake's home, of course, there would be little reason for him to have visited it. Now, though, he'd find out what was happening with Ichigo and his father. Beside him, Ichigo was clutching him, hands spasmodically squeezing his arm as they parked. Gin turned off the car and got out. Nnoitra did the same, then going around to unbuckle his scared seatmate.

Nnoitra realized that Ichigo was still wearing his t-shirt. He'd at least grabbed a pair of Tesra's shorts for him, but considering how underfed he was, they had to be cinched up tight with the drawstring. He smiled, though, looking at him as he looked up at him. He was completely terrified about what was going to happen in a few moments.

"Come on, you are going in," Nnoitra said, holding out a hand for him to take.

Ichigo bit his lip and nodded at him, slowly sliding out of the seat to the ground and gripping Nnoitra's hand tightly. He looked up at him with the most wide eyed look Nnoitra had ever seen on someone that wasn't six years old.

"But…but…you…you won't let them take me away, r-right?" he asked, and Nnoitra thought his lip was actually quivering at the mere thought.

"I won't, I promise," Nnoitra said, squeezing his hand in his. "Long as you want me here, I'll stay. You get to choose that, though, you know," he said, smiling at him.

"G-good. Y-you stay for-forever, then," he said, looking away from Nnoitra toward the ocean.

Nnoitra blinked, feeling like that was a weird thing to say, but glanced up to see Gin watching them intently. Gin nodded, leading them up the sidewalk into a side yard. The house itself set overlooking a small stretch of private beach that was next to a semi-private beach that required permits to get into. The house was two stories and further down from it, Nnoitra knew, there was a Marine facility and the nice beachside hotel.

Gin knocked on the door, and Nnoitra recognized Dr. Ukitake when he opened it. He smiled at Gin and nodding toward the two of them. Nnoitra had to urge Ichigo to move forward, still clinging to his arm, now with both of his hands. They came into the house and Nnoitra saw it was nice, not over the top, but still tasteful. It opened into a large foyer that looked into an open floor plan, with large windows in the living room looking on the ocean. The living room opened into the dining room behind it, separated by a half wall. Nnoitra could see several people sitting at the table. One stood up slowly and starting coming toward them.

Ichigo had buried his head in Nnoitra's armpit, it seemed. Nnoitra tried to get him to budge but he was not having it. Nnoitra looked to see that the man who had come over was wide eyed, and he guessed this had to be Ichigo's father. Gin stepped around and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away and having a whispered conversation just out of earshot. Nnoitra just held Ichigo against him, looking up to lock eyes on another boy that looked Ichigo's age. That had to be his cousin. He was just staring at them and another man he recognized from church and school. Chad, he recalled. His grandfather was the pastor at the church that his mother had solace at a long time ago, and the church they still attended.

Gin pulled Isshin to the side, breaking his stare at the son he thought dead. "Isshin, before you do anything, you need to know he believes completely you didn't want him," he whispered quickly.

Isshin shook his head. "What?"

"Ryuken convinced him that you were going to send him to jail. He still believes it completely, even now. Think about it, Ryuken took a nine year old boy and beat it into him that he was rescuing him, and that's why he couldn't go to school or ever leave their home. There is no doubt in my mind he believes that you will send him to jail to be with the murderers as he says," Gin said slowly, seeing that Ichigo had tried to make himself invisible against the taller man he was with.

"What…what about this guy?" Isshin said, glancing behind them.

"His name's Nnoitra, and he found him in his yard, he's been taking care of him, and Ichigo's attached himself to him as a safe person. So I don't recommend trying to separate them yet. Nnoitra has agreed to help us. But…there might be more to it than that, just as a warning," Gin said, sighing.

"What's that mean?" Isshin said, frowning.

Gin shrugged. "Just, keep in mind, Ichigo may be more childlike than he should be, but he's not a child, he's an adult, and with that comes…um…adult things…"

Isshin blinked, eyes widening a bit. "Oh…oh…I see…but after what Ryuken did…" he said, frowning, an feeling a burning rage spring to life in his stomach.

"It doesn't matter, Ichigo is still an adult, and he may be…attracted to this guy. Maybe its just hero worship because he saved him in his eyes. Maybe not. Just…don't be surprised if it develops into something else. He seems to be the only one that can calm Ichigo down and get him to do something he needs to do," Gin said, turning back where Nnoitra stood patiently waiting.

Isshin nodded, turning back around. "Uh…hem. Nnoitra is your name?" he said, looking up at him.

Nnoitra nodded, trying to extract his right hand from Ichigo but found it impossible. He sighed and reached out his left. "Sorry, man, but yeah, Nnoitra Gilga. My parents own the mechanic shop where this brat showed up last week. If you want to check with Dr. Kisuke Urahara, he came out and had a look at him, and took some blood for testing. He said he was okay for the most part. Just…expected problems from what happened," he said, feeling Ichigo's hands tighten on him.

Isshin glanced over where Ukitake was and he nodded, going to grab his phone to call the other professor. "I…thank you," Isshin said with a slight bow at the tall man. "I thought I would never see my son again."

Ichigo peeked his face out barely and stared at Isshin. He remembered him. He saw his face vividly in his dreams, but it was always associated with pain and loss. He didn't look like he was going to be angry at him. He didn't look like he was going to want to send him to a bad place. He looked…like he had before. He blinked and spoke up.

"He…he said…you h-hated me," he said quietly. "He…told me…you'd send m-m-me away…"

Isshin could stop the tears at that point. "Ichigo, never, never, I never would have sent you away. I…I've looked for you for all the time you've been gone…we thought…we thought you were gone forever, son. I…love you so much. I can't tell you how much I have missed you," he said quietly, not moving to touch him, because something said he wasn't ready.

Ichigo blinked at him, brows knitting together. "Y-you won't make me leave?"

Isshin shook his head. "Never, I want you to come be with me again, and your sisters, Karin and Yuzu," he said smiling at him.

Ichigo's eyes widened in something between shock and fear. "I don't want to go with you!" He turned and buried his face in Nnoitra's shoulder again.

Isshin frowned, not understanding what just happened. Isshin felt someone's hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the white haired Ukitake.

"Ichigo, I'm Jushiro, I'm a friend of your cousin Uryu's. He's here, with me, safe, and no one is going to take you anywhere you don't want to be. Are you afraid that Nnoitra is going to be taken from you?" he said as he knelt in front of Ichigo and stared up at him. He knew that putting Ichigo in the upper position would give him a sense of being in control more than looking up from where he was standing. It was a simple trick he used with children when he worked with them.

Ichigo looked down and him slowly, nodding to him. Jushiro nodded. "Ichigo, he can stay with you, okay? Do you remember the doctor that came to see you?"

Ichigo nodded quickly. "He doesn't have…have…to d-do that again does he?" he whispered, eyes still wide and staring at him.

"Do what?" Jushiro asked, looking up from Ichigo to Nnoitra.

Nnoitra shifted. "Dr. Urahara did an exam…to check for any internal issues," he said quietly.

Jushiro nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, Ichigo, you know that he had to do that to make sure you weren't hurt, right?"

Ichigo swallowed, noddng slightly. "Nnoi said he had to do it. I didn't like it."

Jushiro smiled. "No, I don't expect so, it isn't very fun. But we want to make sure you don't get sick. He said that he was worried about the brusing around your kidneys and liver, too, and wanted you to have a special test at the hospital."

"No!" Ichigo said, eyes going wide, shaking his head furiously and squeezing his eyes shut. "The doctors are bad there! They'll tell Uncle and he'll come get me and I don't wanna leave!"

Jushiro frowned. "Why do you think the doctors are bad there?"

Ichigo just shook his head and turned back into Nnoitra again, hiding his face and Jushiro could see the rapid way he was breathing. "Okay, okay, no hospital, alright?" Jushiro said softly, seeing him start to turn back. He nodded at him.

"Do you understand that he lied to you?" Jushiro asked, crossing his hands over his knees.

"He-he-he…but…he took care of me. And then…then…he…he…I don't know!" Ichigo said, his face twisting into something like anger and confusion together.

Jushiro sighed, standing up. He glanced at Isshin. "This is going to take some time," he said quietly. "I…" Jushiro paused as he descended into a massive coughing fit.

"Oh, my," came Shunsui's voice, as he scrambled out of the kitchen with an inhaler. "Easy, easy," he said, handing it to Jushiro and putting an arm around his back patting him as he sucked in the inhaler twice, pausing to cough between inhaling. He tapered off finally, Shunsui holding him up as he leaned on him. "That was a bad one," Shunsui said, smiling and kissing him on the forehead.

Jushiro heaved a couple deep breaths. "Oh, stress, you know it makes it worse," he said, swallowing. "I…I'm going to the bedroom, Shunsui…will you…"

"Go on," Shunsui said, smiling as he led him to the room, then returned.

"Is he okay?" Isshin asked, frowning.

"Well, as okay as he ever is," Shunsui said, smiling sadly. "He had lung cancer when he was in college, and afterward, his lungs have never recovered. He has what amounts to emphysema and reduced lung capacity. So it is a day to day battle."

Shunsui looked up as the bell rang again. "That should be Kisuke," he said, going to the door.

Kisuke came in, looking around and recognized Isshin immediately. "Isshin," he said, smiling a bit.

Isshin looked at him. "I should have recognized the name, Kisuke Urahara," he said, smiling in return. "It has been a long time."

Kisuke bowed slightly. "I'm sorry it is under these circumstances," he said, sighing. "I cannot imagine what this is like. I…I never would have imagined that Ishida would do anything like this."

Isshin sighed. "Well, neither did I," he said, glancing at his son.

Gin spoke up next. "Well, we have a major problem," Gin said from where he was leaning against the doorway to the hall. "Ryuken Ishida is still on the loose. And we have no idea where he would have gone to. We can't have these two out in the open. He may retaliate on either or both of them. It just isn't safe. He knows where Ichigo went, so the Gilgas' is definitely not safe. The hospital isn't safe, for obvious reason, because reason would dictate that he has people who might call him. I would like to bring the police in…"

Ichigo tried to pull away from Nnoitra then, but Nnoitra was quicker than he expected, catching him as he tried to dart away from him. He snagged him easily around the waist and pulled him back, lifting him up off the floor easily, using his knee to brace him under his butt. "No…they'll take me away…I don't want to…stop…let…me go…" he said, struggling against Nnoitra's hands.

"You stop this right now," Nnoitra said sternly. "You are going to hurt yourself, so stop."

Ichigo immediately stopped fighting him. He stilled and held onto Nnoitra's hands as he put him back on his feet in front of him. Ichigo grabbed Nnoitra around the waist tried to find his way back into his positon under his right arm. "M'sorry," he muttered almost unintelligibly.

Nnoitra sighed, running his hand over his head. "I told you that no one is going to take you away, remember, brat?" he said, grumbling slightly. "Jeeze, you have got to stop that. You're going to injure your ribs or do something worse, okay _Chiquito_?"

Isshin tilted his head to the side, watching the exchange curiously. Well, that was interesting, he thought to himself. Ichigo responded to him. He had this feeling in his gut that things were going to be difficult and interesting over the next few months. More than that, Isshin saw the look on Nnoitra's face, it wasn't really annoyance, or even irritation, it was…genuine. He cared that Ichigo might hurt himself. He didn't want him to take any chances of hurting himself, and even by holding him, he'd held him in a way that kept him from being in danger of injuring him further.

He felt Kisuke put his hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked at him. "Isshin, I have an idea, if you think it might work. That place down the beach, Tiburon Azul, I know the owner, she's a good hearted person, but more than that, she has these separate large suites that she rents out on weekly basis to out of towners. There's a couple that are four bedroom. What if we see if she'd be willing to let us use one of those until we can figure out what to do?"

Isshin nodded. "We're staying there already, me and the girls. How do we make sure that he can't find the boys?"

Gin looked between them. "Well, we're going to have to have people keep watches and guard the door, that's the only solution. Inside, of course. We can't let on that there's anything abnormal going on, or it might tip him off to where these two have gone. We can't stay here, I surely don't want to inconvenience Dr. Ukitake and his husband more than we have to," he said, sighing.

"We?" Isshin asked, looking at Gin.

"We, as in you, your girls, Ichigo, Uryu, Nnoitra, Kisuke, and me," Gin said. "Probably my assistant Kira, as well. We'll need to keep a close on Ichigo for medical reasons, and I'd rather there be a couple people to do watches and keep an eye on things. We also need to make sure that food runs are made and any other necessities."

"I can help," Chad said from where he sat beside Uryū. Uryū looked at him. "My grandfather told me to help when help is needed."

Nnoitra nodded. "Thanks, Chad," he said, smirking at him. "I'd be most grateful if you did. There's a couple of my friends that I know would be able to help that are trustworthy, Szayel, who got Dr. Urahara to come over, and his friend Luppi, and another friend of mine, Shūhei. I'd put my life on any of those guys."

"First," Shunsui said with a smile. "Let me contact Harribel. I am certain that she will agree to our plan, but it would be best to confirm. Excuse me, I'll call from the bedroom, as I also wish to check on Jūshirō."

Ichigo looked out and saw Uryu again. Uryu finally got up, going over to him slowly. He got there and smiled.

"I thought…I thought I'd lost you," he said, eyes tearing up.

"I wanted to get away, Uryu, you said he was wrong, but he said he was wrong too, and then he did it again…" he whispered hoarsely. "But…then he said…"

Uryu dropped to his knees then, looking up at him. "Ichigo, it was all lies. Everything he ever said to you, please, you have to realize that. He never told you the truth, and I wanted to tell you, I really did, but he was so creul when I messed up, and I just…I didn't know what to do, and now look at what's happened and it's all my fault because I couldn't be strong…"

Nnoitra felt Ichigo moving, but this time he let him go as he dropped in front of his cousin. He leaned over and grabbed him around the neck and Uryu embraced him in return, starting to sob again, his body shaking. Ichigo didn't cry, though, he just held Uryu.

"You are strong, Uryu," he said quietly.

Uryu leaned back on his knees, the two of them sitting knee to knee now. "Ichigo you should hate me, everyone should hate me," he said, tears still falling.

"But…I love you, I don't hate you," Ichigo said, tilting his head to the side.

Uryu's face fell, and he completely fell apart, scrambling to his feet away from Ichigo. He finally managed to stumble toward the bathroom, where they heard him becoming violently ill. Chad stood up and went after him.

Ichigo stood up and looked at Nnoitra. "What's wrong with Uryu?" he asked, looking toward the bathroom. "I don't know why he's sad."

Isshin felt his gut clench and he resisted the urge to break down himself. He pulled his hand over his face and swallowed. "He's sad because you were hurt, Ichigo," he said finally.

"Oh," Ichigo said, moving to sit back on his rump and leaning against Nnoitra's leg. He wrapped one of his arms loosely around his calf and put the other on his lap.

Nnoitra looked down, finding this a weird position. He swallowed and glanced toward Ichigo's father, wondering what the man thought of this odd behavior… He found Isshin watching him sadly.

" _Chiquito_ , stand up," Nnoitra said gently, kneeling slightly to take his hands. Ichigo reached up, taking his hands and standing up, looking up at Nnoitra with wide eyes. Nnoitra was struck by the complete trust he was putting in him for no reason. "Come on, your father is a good man, I can tell, so we're going to go with them. I'll stay with you, _bien_?" he said, smiling at him gently.

Ichigo nodded slowly. "Okay," he said, looking up as Uryu came back out with Chad leading him. He looked rather pale as he sat down at the table and put his head down. Chad sat down beside him, glancing back at Nnoitra.

Nnoitra was glad that Chad had run into this mess. Chad was a good man, he knew. Chad's grandfather had been the pastor that had helped his mother when she had left the fundamentalist cult she had been raised in. It has been with him, that she managed to get her condition under control and find a way to peace again. Chad was a big hearted guy, and always had been. He didn't know a time that Chad hadn't stepped in to help another person who was suffering in some way. He was a literal shield when necessary, standing between someone and whatever storms they needed to weather.

Shunsui came back out and nodded to them. "Harribel will meet you at the building numbered 2B. It is next to the main building, but it is detached. She will set you up, and we'll go from there. I have a couple contacts that might make this easier for everyone."

With a little effort, they had all managed to migrate to the beachside hotel. Nnoitra knew that Ichigo was scared to death still. He couldn't imagine what was going through his head. He just hoped that this would work. They found themselves in a nice, almost house sized, apartment style suite. It was furnished, and there was a small living room in the middle with a combination kitchenette dining area on the other side. It was set up where there were two bedrooms with a bathroom between them on one end of the building, the living room and kitchen/dining in the middle, and another set of two bedrooms with a second bathroom between them, making the building longer than it was wide, but not by a lot. The bedrooms each had a full sized bed in them. There was also a pull out sofa. Harribel, a tall woman with tanned skin and blond hair, let them in. She didn't say much, but Nnoitra guessed Shunsui had told her about the situation. She left quickly to allow them to settle in.

Isshin thought he'd let everyone get settled before he got the girls. He figured he might let them stay in the room they'd rented for the week, though. He didn't want to overwhelm Ichigo too much at once. He put his bag down in one of the rooms and saw that Nnoitra nodded to him, going into the one next to the one he chose. Nnoitra sighed. He'd have his mother bring up his equipment. Luckily, the bedrooms were big enough to set up his CPAP. He smiled at Ichigo.

"Do you want to stay in here with me?" he asked. "Or you can have your own…"

Ichigo grabbed his arm again. "I don't want to leave."

"Aw, _Chiquito,_ don't worry, I promised you I wouldn't leave," he said smiling at him.

He went back out, finding Ichigo followed him, grabbing his hand as soon as he could reach it. He saw Gin had set his bag in the living room, and Nnoitra figured he was going to take the sofa bed. He saw that Uryu had taken to one of the other rooms, and Chad was standing to the side looking lost. Nnoitra moved over where he was. "What's up?" he asked.

"I am unsure where to go. The last room should be for Ichigo's sisters," he said, glancing over at it.

"Stay with Uryu," Ichigo said from behind Nnoitra. "He's sad. He needs someone to make him happy," he said, almost thoughtlessly, glancing around the room with eyes that Nnoitra easily saw carried interest.

"Well, there you go," Nnoitra said, smiling at him.

"I do not think that would be appropriate…" Chad began, but Nnoitra was already off and heading toward Uryu's chosen room. Uryu had sat down on the bed and looked up at Nnoitra came up.

"Hey, you think Chad could room with you? We're tight on space, and I don't think he wants to bunk with Ichigo's dad or Gin," he said, looking quite serious.

Uryu nodded. "I…I guess. I mean, I'm used to sharing beds with people, I stay at other people's places all the time," he said, nodding.

"Good," Nnoitra said coming back and smirking at Chad. "There. All done."

Chad narrowed his eyes at Nnoitra. "Nnoi. What are you doing?"

Nnoitra arched his visible eyebrow. "Nothing. You're good for him, he needs support right now. And if it turns into something else…well…you never know, huh?" he said, smirking at him.

Kisuke also stood to the side, wondering what he was going to do. "Isshin, will you bring the girls in tonight?" he asked, looking at him as he came back out.

"No, why don't you take the other room for now? I don't want to overwhelm Ichigo," he said, smiling at him.

Kisuke nodded. "Alright, we can rearrange if necessary, but this is a lot of people, but a larger space is more dangerous," he said, glancing around.

Nnoitra went over to where Gin was. "I'd like to have my parents bring me my things, and have a talk with them, if you think that's okay?" he asked, still trailing Ichigo behind him by the hand.

"I think so; I doubt that at this point Ryuken is trying to do anything yet. But tell them to be careful," he said nodding to him.

Nnoitra nodded, sighing and seeing the lovely sight of the large recliner. He wandered over toward it, dropping into it with a deep sigh. Ichigo stood for a moment still holding his hand as Nnoitra reclined the chair with a sigh. Ichigo tilted his head to the side then climbed up on top of him, sliding down in the side of the chair and putting his head on Nnoitra's chest. Nnoitra was somewhat surprised, but he was getting used to it. He put one hand on Ichigo's head and ran his hands over his hair. "Ah, _Chiquito_ , you're not going to let me go anywhere anytime soon, eh?" he said.

Ichigo looked up at him. He shook his head. "You might leave."

Nnoitra sighed deeply. "No, brat. I'm not leaving. _Me haces feliz, Chiquito, y quiero un tiempo contigo_ …" he said, pulling his arm around Ichigo and squeezing him.

Chad, overhearing him, glanced over. He smiled to himself. Nnoitra had a good heart, he thought to himself.


	7. Ghosts of Twisted Fate

Chapter Seven

Ghosts of Twisted Fate

Nnoitra put down the phone and smiled. His mom, of course, was willing to bring his things by tonight. It wasn't like he couldn't go one night without his CPAP but he really rather not push his luck. He was still settled into the recliner, which was surprisingly comfortable, even if his feet did hang over the foot rest. It wasn't like he was unused to that. Ichigo, however, hadn't moved, and Nnoitra was okay with that. He seemed the most comfortable with him like this. He worried, though, because he was steadily growing attached to him, and if this was just a reaction to his traumatic experiences… He sighed. He'd deal with it, if that was the case. The door rang about an hour later, and he looked up as his parents came into the room, his father bearing a large duffel and his mom carrying the smaller CPAP bag.

"Mijo," she said, leaning over and kissing his forehead. "No, stay there," she said, when Nnoitra reached down for the lever.

She sat down on the couch and smiled at him. Theresa thought the fact that Nnoitra was making a meaningful connection with someone was good. Santos, of course, felt the same. They'd actually discussed it at length on the way over to the place. It was coming on sunset, and Gin and Kisuke had set about making dinner for everyone.

"So, what did you bring me, mama?" he asked, one hand running over Ichigo's head as he watched them from under hooded eyes.

"Well, I brought your laptop, the CPAP, your medicines, I grabbed the extra PlayStation from the closet and a few games in case you or Chiquito want to use it, and I found a few books that might be good for him considering his lack of school. Easy enough to fix, though," she said smiling.

"Ah, mama, you are wonderful. Linda," Nnoitra said with a smile.

"Ah, mijo," she said. "Papi and I have been talking a lot about everything, and I'm happy to see you take a responsibility for something like this. It is very…becoming on you," she said, smirking.

Isshin came in and sat down on the loveseat, nodding to them. "Ah, hello," he said. "I'm Isshin Kurosaki, um, Ichigo's father, I want to thank you for your help with everything," he said nervously.

Santos nodded to him. "It is as it should be, people helping people. I spent a lot of my life trying to be a barrier between my own parents, but in the end, they weren't able to be helped," he said, smiling sadly.

Isshin nodded. "You had a tough time growing up, then?" he asked.

Santos nodded. "My parents were drunks. It took me a good long time to be able to say that. They would fight, get physical with each other, on both their parts, when I was younger. It was a difficult time growing up, seeming to go from one drunken encounter to another. There were police called now and then, but it never seemed to bother them for more than a short time. Because of this," he said, pointing to a long scar on his face. "This ended things. Old Man slashed me with a knife, and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I called the ambulance. They got called in, sent to counseling, but it fell through, it always did. So, I ended up living with my aunt and uncle then. It was better, having a family without the fighting and alcohol, so that's why I tried so hard with Nnoitra to ensure he had a safe and comfortable upbringing because of it. He made a good man, I think," he said, smiling at his son. Nnoitra rolled his eye. Well, eyes, but the other wasn't visible under the bandana he wore wrapped around his head.

"Ah, yes, _mijo_ is very much someone to make me proud," she said, smiling. "Such a good boy coming from such a poor lot as me," she said, smirking.

"Ah, no, mama, don't say such things," Nnoitra said, pointing at her. "You are not a poor lot."

Theresa looked up and saw Chad as he came out of the bedroom. She smiled. "Ah, Sado, _estas aqui_?"

Chad came over, leaning down to hug her. " _Si, señora_ ," he said, smiling.

"Theresa, none of this _señora_ stuff," she said, patting Chad's arm.

Isshin looked at her. "So, you know Chad?"

" _Sí_ , Chad's grandfather was the one who helped me after I left the nightmarish cult I was raised in," she said smirking at Chad.

Isshin frowned. "Cult?" he queried her.

"Ah, yes, it was a most unfortunate circumstance, as you can see, my son and I share a trait, a condition called Marfan Syndrome. It is what causes our unusually tall statures and the extreme flexibility of our joints…" she said smiling.

"Ah, I know of that, briefly, it was a when I went to school with Kisuke," he said, gesturing as the blond man came into the room, smiling and seating himself on the loveseat by Isshin.

" _Hola_ , Theresa," he said, nodding. "Good to see you."

"Si, and you as well," she said. "So you and _Señor_ Kurosaki know each other?"

"Yeah," Kisuke said smiling. "Long time ago, we both went to SoCal together, actually, Dr. Unohana went with us as well, and well, Ryūken Ishida…" he said, looking unhappy with that thought.

Theresa nodded. "Ah, so there is the link between the group of you," she said smiling. "And it must simply be fate to have drawn you all together again, like with _mijo_ and _Chiquito_."

"Fate?" Isshin said, arching a brow.

"Yes, you see, I do believe in fate, be it by God's plan, or some other force, I do not know, but I believe it drives us. It led me to meet Santos here after I was away from those that raised me. My parents were of a cult that believed in the power of prayer over all else, and were very insulated. It was a destructive force, and I watched many die and the leaders would say it was because they did not believe enough. Even when a newborn babe would die from some simple infection, the babe had not enough faith to survive. It was disheartening, and it didn't take long for me to decide that I had to leave it behind. When I left, Sado's grandfather helped people who were victims of these fundamentalist groups. It was through him that I survived."

Isshin nodded. "That's intense," he said, shaking his head. "With Marfan, there are so many things that can go wrong…"

Theresa nodded. "Yes, and it was a miracle I survived. Mijo has had all the best medical care. Dr. Unohana has seen to him for years now. He still has to keep up with appointments, both for his eyes and his heart, but otherwise, mijo is very healthy. And apparently, strong enough to care for two," she said, winking at her son.

"Oye, Mama," Nnoitra said.

Uryū came out of the bedroom, Theresa noted the same one that Chad had come from. She glanced at Chad. " _Oye, estás compartiendo una habitación con el chico con el pelo negro_ ," she said to him, eyes narrowing.

Chad looked at her and nodded once. " _Él es el primo del Chiquito_ ," he muttered, looking slightly embarrassed.

Theresa gave him a sideways grin. "Ah, I see," she said. "So, Kisuke, you will be staying here as well?"

Kisuke nodded. "Yes, we're a bit crowded, so I think I'll lose my room I have to myself soon," he said, smiling at her.

"Ah, I see, that's why Chad shares with Chiquito's cousin…" she said, nodding. She looked at Nnoitra. "Chiquito and you are staying together?"

" _Sí, Mamá_ ," Nnoitra said, turning his eye to her, daring her to say something. His mother had a very…unusual sense of humor, to say the least.

"Um, excuse me," Kisuke said. "You and Nnoitra keep calling Ichigo Chiquito, might I ask what that means?" he said, glancing between them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it is a word that means…a little one, I think, yes, Nnoi?" Theresa said. Nnoi nodded. "You see, Nnoitra grew up hearing it a lot, as well as other names, I tend to call him only by _mijo_ now, but when he was small, he was _mi_ _chiquito_ ," she said, smiling at him. Nnoi sighed. "He found the other names I called him equally embarrassing, so my child was the best I could do."

Isshin nodded, understanding. "I have heard that terms of endearment are common in Spanish speaking countries, whereas in Japanese culture, names and honorifics are used. I find it interesting the differences in the way different people express affection," he said thoughtfully.

"So," Theresa said with a smile as she stood. "I believe we will return home, don't hesitate to call, I will be home," she said smiling.

Isshin got up, and as he did, she caught the lingering look that Kisuke followed him with. She smirked again, snickering a bit. "Oye, Papi," she said, gesturing to Santos. "Let's go, I need to get sleep tonight, and so does Nnoitra and this group," she said.

Santos arched a brow. "I swear, keep calling me Papi, I'll show you a thing or two," he muttered, shaking his head and waving to his son.

She smirked at him as Isshin led them to the door. "Oh, _Señor_ Kurosaki," she said, smiling. "I will make sure to call before I come over."

Isshin frowned, wondering what brought about that sort of comment. "Oh, okay, but it probably won't matter, it will be quite boring around here, I imagine," he said shrugging.

Theresa smirked at him. "Ah, well, I do like to make sure that everyone is dressed and not occupied in private endeavors," she said with a smirk and Isshin heard her giggling and talking to Santos in rapid Spanish, and as he shut the door he heard Santos chuckle slightly.

Isshin shut the door and saw Nnoitra shaking his head. "Don't mind her, she has a bit of a perverse sense of humor," he muttered.

Isshin nodded. "Okay," he said hesitantly.

They all managed to get through dinner, Ichigo having to be encouraged repeatedly by Nnoitra to eat more than a little of the food that Kisuke and Gin had fixed. Nnoitra put Ichigo in the seat next to him, refusing to allow him to sit on his lap. He thought he was actually pouting about that fact though. Nnoitra rolled his eyes, and wondered how this sleeping arrangement was going to go. The bed was much smaller than his own king sized bed at home…

Everyone managed to get into their room, or for Gin, bedded down on the sofa bed. Nnoitra took Ichigo into the bedroom and starting to get his machine set up on the nightstand. Ichigo stood just inside the door, his hands folded together and staring at the floor. When Nnoitra finished he glanced over at him.

"Oye, Chiquito, what are you doing? Come, it is time for us to sleep," he said, sighing.

He looked at Nnoitra and hesitated for a moment before he went around the bed, climbing into the side away from the breathing machine and crossed his legs. Nnoitra realized he was still wearing nothing but his t-shirt because he could see a lot more than he intended when he sat down.

"Oh, we have to find you clothes," he said, glancing away to situate his pillows.

Ichigo stared at him, wondering why he seemed so oddly. He was acting like there was something wrong, and Ichigo's mind immediately assumed he was the cause. He decided he should go somewhere else, because he didn't want to get hit again if Nnoitra was upset. He scrambled back off the bed and dashed around it, slipping into the bathroom, closing the door.

Nnoitra looked up, frowning, going over and finding he'd locked the door. He sighed, going out and across the hall to knock on Uryū's room. Uryū opened it, frowning at him.

"Ah, so, Ichigo put himself in the bathroom, and I'd rather he night sleep in there," he said, sighing. "I don't know why, he was fine, then he just took off," Nnoitra said, worrying that he'd done something and hadn't realized it.

Uryū sighed. "He might think you're upset or something," he said quietly, going across to the door to the bathroom on Nnoitra's side and knocking.

"Ichi, open the door please," he said. There was no response. He had a thought, smiling at Nnoitra. "He may not realize the other side goes into there as well."

Nnoitra nodded and followed Uryū as he knocked on the door to Isshin's room. He opened it, dressed down in a t-shirt and a pair of sleep pants. "Uncle Isshin, can we see if the bathroom is locked on this side?"

Isshin nodded, letting them into the room. Uryū moved in and found that the door on this side was unlocked. He smirked, opening it quietly and going in, not seeing him, of course. He'd be inside the bathtub hiding behind the shower curtain.

"Ichi," he said, sighing. "I know you're in the bathtub."

There was a slight movement of the curtain. Uryū went over and sat down on the toilet lid, pushing the curtain open to find Ichigo had sat down in the end, curled up on himself like he usually did when he was upset. He looked up at Uryū. Nnoitra went it, unlocking the door on the other side. Isshin leaned against the doorframe, watching as well.

"Ichi, what are you doing?" Uryū said, sighing.

"It's safe in here," he said, looking at him. "It always is."

"Ichi, you don't have to hide anymore, Ryūken isn't here, and no one is going to hurt you again," Uryu said sadly, reaching over and running his hand over Ichigo's head.

"But he's upset," he said quietly. "He…he might…"

Nnoitra frowned, tilting his head to the side, moving forward now and leaning against the wall. Ichigo's face turned up to him and he looked actually frightened of him for the first time.

"Chiquito, why do you think I'm upset?" he asked.

Ichigo looked down at his hands. "You're different than before," he said quietly. "So…so you…must be angry at me…and I have to go away…so you don't hate me…"

Nnoitra sighed, seeing the look of exasperation on Uryū's face as well. "Ichi, he's not upset, people act different when they're sleepy or tired," he said, sighing. "Not everyone is like Ryūken. I know that anytime his mood changed he could be horrible to you, but not everyone does that, don't you see?"

Ichigo shook his head, putting his hands over his head, and for the first time Isshin saw the bruising on his arms for what it was, and turned away as a rage threatened to overtake him. Nnoitra, however was tired, and he was no in the mood for such things. He sighed at Uryū and gestured for him to move out of the way. Uryū frowned briefly but stood up and moved to where Isshin stood to watch.

"Chiquito, you are being a brat again," he muttered under his breath, leaning down and picking him up easily, careful to hold him under his knees and back.

Ichigo gasped, grabbing onto him as he picked him up. "No, no, let me stay here, I don't want to go…" he whined. Nnoitra sighed, pausing to lean over and kiss the tip of his nose, shocking him into complete silence.

"Hush, Chiquito, you are being silly, now, it is time to sleep for us, and we are not going to have these games every time. You'll come to bed when it is time, and you will get your rest as your body heals, understand me?" Ichigo just stared at him, eyes wide and nodded slowly.

Isshin and Uryū watched them disappear into the other room, shutting the door behind them. Nnoitra put Ichigo down on the bed where he'd turned down the covers. He slid in beside him, pulling the facemask down. Ichigo stared curiously at him when he started to put it on.

"I have a breathing problem, during the night, without this, I can stop breathing," he said smiling at him. "So I have to keep this on. Tomorrow, we are going to get on my laptop, and we are going to start catching you up on things, okay?" Ichigo nodded, watching as he strapped the mask on and laid back, slightly building the pillow up so his head was elevated.

Ichigo moved and put himself underneath his arm, and felt Nnoitra tighten it around him, and he realized it felt nice and warm. He smiled, putting his head against his chest and listening for a long time to his heart beating. He sat up after a while, looking down in the dim light to see that he was asleep now. He smiled, reaching out to touch his face with one finger, then leaning over and kissing his nose, well where the facemask covered his nose.

"My Papi," he whispered, smiling and resuming his position snuggled down beside him. He sighed deeply. "My Papi won't hurt me," he whispered to himself, both in a way to convince himself as well as to say the words out loud. "He won't hurt me. He's not like Uncle. I can trust Papi. He'll take care of me. He won't be mad at me. He's a good Papi," he said, sighing out as he finally faded into sleep.

Above him, Nnoitra's eye opened, blinking for a moment, brows knitting together for a moment. He swallowed against a building knot in his chest. Something about the fact that Ichigo seemed to have decided that he was someone he could trust made him feel good, better, in fact, than he'd ever felt before in his life.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Hanataro Yamada was often given to bouts of serious insomnia. Tonight was one of those nights, so he'd left his small apartment to head down to the beach and walk. It helped, sometimes, but even if it didn't, it was better than sitting in front of the TV all night. So he just liked to walk and enjoy the ocean. As he walked down the beach tonight, nearing the Marine facility, he saw there was someone else sitting on the beach. As he got closer, the figure turned to him and smiled. He recognized Kugo, vaguely, though he hadn't had a lot to do with the strange man.

"Hi," Hanataro said, waving at him.

"Oh, hi, nice night, huh?" he said, looking out over the ocean.

Hanataro nodded, sitting down beside him to be nice. Hanataro was often nice to a fault. Kugo smiled at him as he sat down. "Yeah, I come down this way a lot," he said, looking out there. "The wind and the smell is nice."

Kugo nodded, running a hand over his head. "Yeah, this is the best place to hear them."

Hanataro looked at him curiously. "Hear who?"

"The star men, of course," he said, looking up into the sky. "I'm waiting for the right moment, you know. The star child, he's here, and I have to figure out how to be with him when they come for us."

Hanataro arched a brow at him. "Oh?" he asked, thinking he was going to be going quickly back home.

"Um hum. He's so lovely," he said, sighing deeply. "I can't wait to leave with him, maybe they'll let us stay together on the ship, and we can be happy, the star child and me," he said, smirking, not noticing that Hanataro was getting up and leaving quietly. He just kept talking to the ocean. "We're both made from humans, after all, and they'll be hard to accept for him, of course, but I'll teach him. He won't like it, not at first, because he won't know about them yet. But they'll come, and they'll take us both away, and we'll never have to worry about anything ever again…" he said wistfully.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

It was only seven in the morning when Gin's phone rang obnoxiously by his head. He groaned picking it up with a groan.

"Gin, what is it?" he muttered, thinking it might be Rachel checking in or Kira.

"Hey, its Iba, man," came the answer, and Gin was awake immediately. Iba was his FBI contact in San Diego.

"What's up?" he asked, worried that they'd already gotten wind of what had happened with Ryuken and would try and take the Kurosakis into witsec. He didn't think that Ichigo would do well if that happened, so he had been hesitant to contact anyone yet.

"So…you should come to the office, asap, we picked up this guy last week trying to run two pounds of pot across into Nevada, and he has one hell of story you might want to hear. That is, if you're still looking for anything on that cold case about the Kurosaki boy," Iba said.

"Um, yeah, of course, I can be there in a couple hours," he said, grabbing his keys and his wallet. No one else was up yet, so he tried to be quiet. "See you then," he said, ending the call as he closed the door. He pulled up Kira's number and texted him. _Head to the safe house. Going to SD. Back by late._

He got in the car and took off as fast as he could dare. It didn't take a very long time to get back, but it was too long no matter how long it was. He got out at the San Diego FBI office and headed up to the office where Iba worked. The dark haired and mustached man looked up with he knocked.

"Good, you got here just in time for the interview. You can stand in the viewing room, but you can't go in with us, okay?" he said.

Gin nodded, wondering just what the hell was going on. He was led to the one way mirror and stood looking into the interview room. The room was recorded digitally, and the feed played on the monitor next to him. He saw a tall, thin man with glasses sitting there, and only a slight bit of dark hair on the top of his head. He looked spacey, if he guessed. He saw Iba and a woman he didn't recognize go into the room, sitting down opposite the man.

Iba spoke into the microphone on the table directly. "Official interview, Quilge Opie. Reference to case number 6859KIMK4-b. Now, Mr. Opie, would you care to explain what exactly was your relationship to the man named Ryūken Ishida?"

Gin's eyes widened in surprise but he watched. "Well, when I was younger, I was a dealer. The major university scene, and there was this med student who found me. He said he needed some help with dealing with stress, and after he'd had surgery on his wrist earlier that year, he'd found that a few pills now and then went a long way to dealing with it. So, I provided. He'd buy whatever I sold, usually whatever I had on hand, if it was a narcotic, he'd take it. I thought he knew what he was getting into, being a med student and all," he said, shrugging. "There were times he didn't contact me, so I guess he got the pills somewhere else then. But then out of the blue, he calls me one day, saying he's gotten dismissed from his job for palming pills from his patients, and he needed to resume our previous relationship. I agreed, meeting him several times down near Las Noches on the coast. Guess that was where his vacation house was or something, but he went with his family. Well, by now it wasn't just me, of course. I was working for someone else, that's how things work in this business," he said, sighing, glancing at his fingers.

"I took him the drop and he paid me, but he didn't pay me the right amount. Like half of what I'd told him. I told him that he needed to pay up the rest; he refused, saying that he would only honor the priced we'd previously agreed on. I explained that I didn't care, but my supplier…he might be a little put off by it. He didn't care, saying he wasn't paying more than something was worth. So I went back, and my supplier, like I thought, told me I had to teach him a lesson. I asked what, and he said, take out his wife," he said, sighing. "So, I headed out to do that. But when I got to beach where his wife was, there were two women. Well, being as fucking high as I was at the time, I figured killing them both would work just the same, because I didn't know which one his wife was. So I shot them. I packed up the rifle, and went back, told my supplier, and he was a little mad I killed the other woman, but I didn't care then."

Gin couldn't believe what he was hearing. Opie continued. "So, after that, the bastard disappeared, and we didn't hear from him again. But, after I got clean, well, off the hard shit anyway, I felt bad about that hit. I mean, those two women had nothing to do with his stiffing us. And I guess, seeing those two boys there on the sand, that shoulda told me I should put down the gun, but nah, my head was all messed up then. I even wondered if I should shoot the kids for good measure…" he said, looking away. "I didn't, thank God, I don't think I could deal with the guilt from that. Those two women are bad enough. I never killed women or children, you know, I'd deal the drugs, take hits on guys. After that I didn't do hits at all, and went to dealing pot."

Iba nodded. "And why are you coming forward this information now?"

Opie shrugged. "Tired of keeping it to myself. I don't know, figure someone needs to be accountable, and those two women, they had families, and kids, and I guess they'd want to know why they died. And if that Ishida bastard is still out there, someone should probably see that he pays, too, or at least knows it was his fault they died, if he doesn't know already. But honestly, considering he stiffed me the day before, he should know why they got hit."

Iba nodded, asking a few other questions but Gin honestly didn't listen from then on. The pieces were drawing together, and now the picture of what had happened became clearer and clearer. A while passed and Iba came out, sighing at him.

"Well, that help with the case?" he asked, smiling at him.

Gin nodded. "Um, Iba, I need your help, actually, on this case," he said hesitantly.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"But…I have a request. You can't, no matter what, bring witsec in on this," he said.

Iba looked at him curiously, crossing his arms and looking at him. "Why?"

"I found Ichigo Kurosaki," he said, sighing. Iba stared at him for a long time.

"What, how?" he asked.

Gin shook his head. That's a long story, but look, Ryūken Ishida had him, this whole time, he had him captive," he said, looking up at him.

Iba's face looked more shocked than Gin had ever seen. "What?"

"He…he took that little boy himself, Iba, no one took him, he took that little boy and told him that he killed his mother, he told him it was his fault. And for twelve years, he held him captive, telling him that Isshin Kurosaki was going to send him to jail and beating him nearly to death again and again. He beat his own son, threating to do the same to him if he said anything. And then, when Ishida stepped it up, and started sexually abusing him, his own son broke, trying to get him and Ichigo away," he said, watching as Iba's face twisted in disgust. "Ryūken Ishida is in the wind, and I've got the two boys in a safe location, under a lot of eyes, and the boy's a mess. Well, both of them are a mess. But, if I try and take Ichigo away from the man who is currently his only source of comfort, the boy might just crack beyond repair," he said seriously. "Iba, you know I've been through this with Kira. When you tried to take him and put him in witsec. It was mere days before you called me after he tried to cut his wrists open. I can't let that happen again."

Iba looked at him, nodding, remembering vividly how bad that had gone. Kira had been freed by Gin from a fetish sex slavery ring. He'd attached to Gin in the short time he'd been with him until he was turned over to the FBI agents. He'd been distraught, but everyone, even their doctors, said he'd recover, he just needed time. Two days after going to the safe house, they'd found him in the bathroom, having pulled a safety razor apart with his teeth and had tried to slice open his arms from the inside of his elbow to his wrists. They'd gotten him to the hospital in time, but they'd brought Gin back in, and figured out how to deal with him without another life threatening incident.

Iba sighed. "Alright, give me the address, I'll see what I can do about sending a team to be nearby, and maybe see if we can't find Ryūken Ishida before he tries anything."

Gin nodded, thankful that Iba was willing to work with him on it.


	8. Ghosts of the New Days

For those interested, I have a P_a_t_r eon now for original work: : user?u=507737, phoenixreal

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Chapter Eight

Ghosts of the New Days

Nnoitra woke the next morning with a comfortable weight settled in next to him. He sighed, having rested quite well the night before. He glanced down to Ichigo's orange head, burrowed into the hollow of his shoulder. He'd pulled Nnoitra's arm around his side and was clutching his hand tightly, having interlaced his fingers with him. He smiled under his facemask and reached over, shutting the CPAP off and pulling the mask off. He reached over with his free hand and ruffled the mess of orange hair a bit. He almost dozed again when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said feeling Ichigo shift at his voice.

The door opened and there was a new person there, a blonde guy with a nervous expression. "Um, hello, I…um, I'm Izuru Kira, I'm Gin's assistant, and he had to leave early this morning to go to San Diego about something from one of his FBI informants. So…he asked me to come take his place, you know, until he gets back," Kira said, fingers twisting with each other as he spoke. He didn't really look up at Nnoitra much, but he glanced several times at Ichigo.

"Yeah, Gin told us about you, he found you along the way of trying to find this brat," he said, nodding at him.

Kira's brow crinkled. "Um, ah, yeah, that's true…I…I had been in a fetish trafficking ring when he came into it, posing as a bidder. When he wasn't there, he managed to bid m-me out because of my condition. He got the FBI in to bust the whole thing, but it took them a while to do it. Gin knew that I didn't have the time," he said, smiling slowly.

"Gin seems like a good man," Nnoitra said, smiling back at the young man. He looked to be all of seventeen years old, by the look.

"Okay, um, I guess I'll see about sleeping on the couch, I don't think Gin would mind…" he said, glancing over where Gin had vacated.

Nnoitra felt Ichigo shift and begin muttering. He glanced at Kira and tried to quell his nightmare before it woke him by tightening his hold and stroking his hair. Kira's eyes looked hallow for a moment but he moved immediately and knelt beside the bed, waiting to see if he was needed. He knew this part all too well. Ichigo, though, in his dream, felt the tightening as being held down, and he fought against it, screaming in his mind to be let go until it started bubbling through his consciousness into reality.

"Ah…lemme go, lemme go, please…I can't…I can't…" he gasped out, trying to fight away from the hands that held him. His eyes shot open and he very nearly screamed, but he was shocked out of it by someone's voice beside him.

"You're safe," Kira said in a very soft voice. "You're safe now, remember?"

Ichigo's heart was racing but he turned to face the blonde and stared at him for a moment before he relaxed, turning into Nnoitra and clutched him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I…I didn't…"

"Hush, Chiquito, hush," Nnoitra said, pulling him closer. "It is fine, just relax, it was a nightmare, and you're safe with me, remember?" he said, stroking his head for a long moment. "Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked.

Ichigo looked up at him with wide eyes. "He…he was holding me down…and laughing because…because I was crying…and I told him I didn't like what he was doing…and he said that I…I…should be glad f-for his attention," he said softly, tears in the corners of his eyes already.

"Ah, _pobrecito_ ," Nnoitra said, sighing. "No one is going to ever treat you like that again, okay?"

Ichigo nodded slowly, wiping his eyes and moving to sit up beside him, glancing at Kira curiously. He wasn't afraid of him, though. He'd decided that his Papi wouldn't let anyone hurt him. He knew as long as he had him, he was okay. He made him feel funny but in a good way, Ichigo thought, smiling at him suddenly.

"What's that for?" Nnoitra asked, curious.

"Nothing, I just…" he said, and Nnoitra swore his face turned pink before he scrambled off the bed and into the bathroom. The door shut and he heard the lock click. He groaned out loud. Kira looked at him.

"He locks himself in the bathroom when he's upset or confused," Nnoitra explained. "He's really childlike in a lot of ways still," he said, standing up and grabbing a change of clothes before going to the door and knocking.

"Chiquito, open this door, now," he said, and Kira looked over with curiosity at the tone of voice he'd taken with him. That type of instruction couldn't be good, he thought at first but then he heard the lock click and the door opened a sliver to show the brown eyed Ichigo staring out and up at Nnoitra.

"Listen here, brat, you are not going to do this today. I need to shower. So, you can sit in here or you can wait in the bedroom, up to you," he said, and Kira almost said something to him but watched in confusion as Ichigo opened the door, grabbing Nnoitra's hand and before the door shut again, he saw Ichigo sit down in front of the door.

Nnoitra glanced down to see he'd put himself in the area at the end of the room that was where the two doors opened into. He sighed and looked at him. "Staying in here it is then," he muttered, pulling off his shirt and sighing as he dropped it to the floor beside his feet, and stepped out of the jeans he'd been wearing yesterday. He hated sleeping in jeans… Nnoitra had been in and out of hospitals so much in his life, he honestly had no thought of nudity around anyone anymore, so he slipped out of his boxers and stepped into the shower, realizing he was, of course, taller than the bar. He sighed, glad that at least it had one of those removable heads. He could, however, still see Ichigo out of the corner of his eye.

Ichigo sat there, watching for a moment before he crawled over to where Nnoitra had dropped his clothes and snagged his shirt from the pile, going back and sitting down. Nnoitra noticed, glancing over to see what he was doing. Ichigo smiled and put the shirt against his face for a moment, before he put it in his lap and resumed watching him behind the curtain, fingers buried in Nnoitra's shirt. Nnoitra shook his head, finishing up his shower and realized, he should really put Ichigo in one as well. No time like the present, the thought, stepping out and pulling on his clean boxers and a pair of sweat pants. He looked over at Ichigo.

"Alright, you next," he said, smirking at him.

Ichigo stared at him for a long moment, surprised. "But…but…I took a bath…"

"And that was yesterday, and I still don't think I've gotten all the filth off you, Chiquito, so come on," he said, leaning over and turning the sprayer back on and testing the temperature quickly.

"But…but…" he muttered.

"No buts, come on," Nnoitra said, arching his one visible brow at him.

Ichigo nodded, standing up, still clutching the t-shirt as he came over to him. Nnoitra took the t-shirt he was holding, then waited for him to take off the t-shirt he was wearing. He looked at Nnoitra for a moment.

"Can I…wear…your shirt again after I get out?" he said, looking at him with wide eyes.

"I guess, but we're going to have to send someone for some clothes today, you can't go around in my t-shirts all the time, even if it is fucking adorable," he muttered the last, mostly to himself, but Ichigo heard him.

Ichigo nodded, pulling off the shirt carefully and putting it on the counter by the sink before he stepped over into the shower. He looked worried but when he got into the water, Nnoitra saw the pleasured look of someone who hadn't experienced a good shower very much. Nnoitra sat down on the toilet lid and handed him a wash cloth.

"Here you go, Chiquito, scrub yourself up, don't miss a single spot, _comprende_?" he said smirking at him.

Ichigo nodded, pulling the curtain and Nnoitra could hear him doing just as he asked. Good, he thought, at least this attachment to him was useful in that he could get him to take care of himself. After a bit, he saw Ichigo poke his head out, water streaming down his face.

"'M done," he said, staring at Nnoitra.

"Turn off the water, then, brat," Nnoitra said, yawning as he turned it off and opened the curtain, waiting for Nnoitra, it seemed, to instruct him or something. Nnoitra sighed, tossing a towel at him. "Dry off, and we'll go have breakfast with the others, I smell something cooking out there," he said sighing.

Ichigo clumsily managed to towel himself dry and before Nnoitra could say anything, he'd snatched the t-shirt and put it back on with a grin at Nnoitra and Nnoitra almost melted in in that moment, just the look on his face and sheer delight about wearing his shirt… He also had to turn quickly and adjust himself because half his blood also rushed to his cock. Ichigo, though, as before, misunderstood the cues and felt like he'd done something wrong, and left the bathroom while Nnoitra was calming his sudden, and annoying, state of arousal. He turned back, seeing Ichigo had left and knew immediately what had happened.

He quickly went after of him, seeing him disappearing into Uryu's room. He sighed, crossing the living area, noting Kisuke looking after him from the kitchen curiously. Nnoitra knocked on the door with a sigh, and heard rustling. Uryu opened the door, eyes sleepy still, putting on his glasses and staring.

"He came in here," Nnoitra said with a sigh.

Uryu blinked, then turned, frowning and not seeing him. "You…sure?" he said, going in the room and realizing that Ichigo had come in and was sitting on the other side of the bed in the corner with his head on his knees. He sighed, looking over at Nnoitra.

"What this time?" he asked, sighing.

"I…think he just misunderstood something I did," Nnoitra said, clearing his throat. "Chiquito, come out here," Nnoitra said a bit louder. "I know where you are," he added, leaning against the doorframe.

Uryu walked around and knelt down in front of him. "Ichi, what's wrong now?"

Ichigo cut his eyes up at Uryu. "Papi's mad at me," he said quietly.

Uryu frowned. "Papi?" he said, glancing over at Nnoitra. "Oh…ah, why do you think that, Ichi?"

"He turned away and he was breathing loud, so he's mad," he said quietly, not looking over where Nnoitra was standing.

Uryu glanced over at him and Nnoitra sighed. "Yes, but not because I was mad," he said, sighing. "You're fucking adorable when you're in my shirt, and it…um…yeah, caused me a small issue, well, not small, but you know," he muttered, glancing at Uryu. Uryu started to say something then his cheeks reddened a bit.

"Oh, Ichi, you silly thing," he said with a sigh, reaching over and ruffling his hair. He leaned over close to Ichigo's ear and whispered to him. "It's because he likes you, Ichi, not because he's mad at you," he said quietly.

Ichigo looked over at Nnoitra and back to Uryu curiously. "Why?" he whispered back to Uryu.

"I don't know, why does anyone like anyone else? He just does," he answered.

"But…but…I'm not normal," he answered, staring at Uryu seriously.

Uryu shook his head. "Well, neither am I, we're both pretty fucked up," he said, sighing deeply. "So, let's just deal with now and you need to go have breakfast," he said, pulling him to stand up.

Ichigo finally stood, pulling down on Nnoitra's shirt a little as he came around back to him. "Okay, breakfast," he said, smiling at Nnoitra.

Nnoitra grinned. "Good, then, we're going to figure out how to get you up to speed on some things," he said putting a hand on Ichigo's back and steering him into the dining area. Nnoitra sat down, and Ichigo, this time, didn't pout about sitting beside him, doing so without a fuss. Nnoitra smiled, glad that he was finally seeming to unlearn some of the behaviors he'd had to learn to cope with things. He pulled out his phone as they sat around the table finishing up, seeing Szayel had texted him asking where he was and what was going on. He texted him back to go ask his mama, and come to where they were at if he wanted. Szayel asked why he couldn't just tell him right there, and Nnoitra said that he had to ask his mama. He put his phone away and wondered exactly what the rest of the day would entail.

After breakfast, he'd sat up his laptop in the living room, and managed to find a basic academic assessment. He turned the computer around and nodded at Ichigo. "Okay, use the mouse, read the question, and then push this button on the answer. When you're done, we'll see what we need to work on."

Ichigo nodded, taking a moment to get used to using the mouse and the computer, but Nnoitra noticed he picked it up quickly, easily going through the first parts of the assessment. It seemed he could read relatively well, but he struggled once he got beyond the sixth grade level. So he was advanced when he was younger, Nnoitra thought, realizing the last time he was in school he would have been about fourth grade. His math skills were a little further behind, and he struggled a lot with some of the more critical thinking issues. When he was done, Ichigo was obviously frustrated by the things he didn't know and couldn't understand.

"I must be as stupid as Uncle said," he said sighing as the score sheet came up showing the number right and wrong.

Nnoitra glanced at him, and the score sheet. "Chiquito, you are far from stupid. You've spent twelve years without being in school, and you retained most of your educational knowledge from before you stopped going to school," he said, looking over the results. He had come out on the higher end of a fifth grade level on most the things, with math around third grade level. For someone who hadn't done any schoolwork in twelve years, he was impressed. "This is actually really promising," he said, nodding at the results.

Isshin had come out and eaten as well, but Ichigo still didn't acknowledge him much. He sat down across from Ichigo while he was doing the assessment and watched. Ichigo looked up finally.

"Hi," he said tentatively, not sure how to act around this man that was his father, but that for twelve years he had been more scared of than his Uncle.

"Hi," Isshin said, smiling at him. "I'm so proud of you, you know," he said softly, glancing at Nnoitra, who was busily figuring out what lessons he needed to find to get Ichigo somewhere near able to at least get a GED in the near future.

They were sitting there relatively calmly when the door burst open suddenly and a girl with little bright green pigtails came running through the living room, skidding to a stop in the center and looking at all the people. Ichigo had frozen, staring at her. A second later, a man with blue hair came running into the room and stopped with a look of surprise on his face.

"Ah, ah, Nel, stop," he said, huffing a bit, leaning over with his hands on his knees. "I told you there were people here, you can't go running into the cabins…like this…" he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, sorry, she was playing endless chase," he said, standing up, holding his side with a wince. "Fuck I need to start running again," he muttered.

Nel had stopped, turning and staring at Ichigo intently, a stuffed caterpillar clutched to her chest. Ichigo was shocked, but he hadn't bolted, which Nnoitra thought was a good thing.

Nel came over and stopped in front of Ichigo. "Hi! I'm Nel! Dis my Big Brudder, Grimmy. Nice to meet you, who you?"

Ichigo swallowed. "Ichigo," he said quietly, still not sure what to do, but he'd grabbed Nnoitra's hand at some point.

"Itsygo!" she said, smiling. "Itsygo Nel's friend now, Nel's Itsygo," she said coming over and sitting beside him and leaning into his side.

Grimm sighed, shaking his head. "Nel, you can't just go around and make everyone be your friend and invading their privacy," he said, looking around apologetically. "Sorry, she gets a little excited sometimes. She's a little brat, she is," he groused, crossing his arms with a sigh.

Ichigo just stared at her for a long moment swallowing against a surge of fear at the other man in the room. The little girl looked about five years old, and she sat kicking her feet was she looked at her stuffed toy. She held it out to Ichigo. "Dis Bawabawa. He's my friend, but he's got an owie, see?" she said, pointing to a place where there was a small tear. She looked up at Ichigo's face and she frowned. "You got an owie too," she said, looking very concerned. "Grimmy, fix Itsygo's owies!" she demanded looking at her brother. "He has too many, so fix it for him!"

Ichigo blinked at her for a long moment and felt Nnoitra put an arm around his shoulders to keep him from moving. Grimm stared at her.

"Nel, I can't just fix people's owies, okay? They have to heal on their own," he said, shaking his head.

"Mama didn't heal from her owies, though, so you have to fix Itsygo's owies!" she said, glaring at him.

Grimm sighed, rubbing his face vigorously for a minute. "Nel, I've told you that was different," he said sorry. "I'm sorry, she just found some old photo albums that had our mother in them, and she had to know about the pictures," he said, looking sheepish. "Our mom died when she was only a couple months old, and I've taken care of her ever since," he said. "And she's a brat most the time!" he emphasized, glaring at her with both hands on his hips.

Isshin smiled. "She's very cute," he said, smiling at him. She got up and went up to Isshin, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Who you?" she asked.

"I'm Ichigo's father," he said, nodding toward Ichigo.

"Oh, then you be Nel's friend too," she said nodding. She turned and glared at Nnoitra who was still holding Ichigo around his shoulders. Ichigo's hand was digging into his thigh, though.

"And who you to my Itsygo?" she said, pursing her lips.

Nnoitra didn't know how to answer that question, so he stammered a second before Ichigo spoke up. "He's my Papi," he said definitively. Isshin cocked his head to the side and locked eyes with Nnoitra, frowning deeply.

"He started that today," Nnoitra said, trying to explain. "No idea…"

"What's dat? Dat like another daddy?" she asked, frowning.

Ichigo shook his head. "No," he said simply.

"Okay," she said, wandering off to see the rest of the people.

"Nel, please," Grimm groaned, following her as she went and inquired who everyone else was. Finally, she saw Uryu come out. She smiled running up to him.

"You're the sad one!" she said grinning at him broadly. "You still look sad," she said. "I don't have a sandwich today, though," she said sadly.

Uryu blinked, realizing that this was the little blonde haired girl from the beach, but now her hair was green for some reason. He looked up and saw Grimm standing there looking exasperated. "Nel, please, let's go back to see the others, okay?" he pleaded.

"Otay," she said, skipping back into the living room and to Ichigo. "Bye Itsygo," she said, hugging him around the waist. "Bye Itsygo daddy," she said, smiling at Isshin. "Bye Itsygo Papi," she said, skipping out of the cabin with Grimm following.

"Sorry!" he called after he got out the door.

Nnoitra frowned, shaking his head and then pulled Ichigo tighter. "What's this Papi business?" he asked finally, looking at him. "Is it because you heard mi Mama call mi papa that yesterday?"

Ichigo looked at him and shrugged. "I like it," he said, and Nnoitra wasn't sure but it looked like he blushed a little.

"Um, ah, it is Spanish for daddy…" Nnoitra said, a slight blush staining his cheeks. "I don't know if you want to use that, Chiquito…I mean, I'm all for you calling me something since I call you Chiquito, but…"

Ichigo smiled. "I like Papi," he said, nodding at him.

Nnoitra wanted to argue but he didn't think he'd get anywhere. He sighed. "Call me whatever you want, Chiquito," he said, thinking that it would be best not to try and tell him what to do at this time. "Come on, I've got the first lessons we're going to do today…" he said, pulling up a site for reading lessons appropriate to his level.

Isshin got up, nodding to them and heading to the bedroom he was using and took out his phone. He'd called the girls last night and gave them a brief reason that he wasn't coming back to the room, basically that it had to do with their brother and he'd talk to them the next day. So, he needed to get this done. He dialed Karin's number and waited.

"Yo, pop," she answered. "What's up?" she asked.

"Is Yuzu there?" he asked.

"Yeah, where else would she be?" Karin asked, sighing.

"Put it on speaker so I can talk to you both," he said.

Karin did as he asked, and he knew that his tone would tell her it was important. He heard the phone being shifted. "Okay, we're both here," he heard Yuzu say.

"Okay, this is going to be a lot to take in. But we found your brother," he said. He heard the gasps and hesitant mutterings. "But…he's not in a good condition right now."

"What's that mean?" Karin asked suspiciously.

"Um, well, he's spent twelve years being held captive by your Uncle Ryuken, apparently," he said, sighing deeply.

"What?" Yuzu said, gasping.

"It's complicated, but he hasn't been to school, he's been abused badly, and he's easily overwhelmed right now. We're in one of the large cabins, and I want you to come over tonight at dinnertime to meet with him and the other people that are trying to help him. No one can know where we are, though, because Ryuken is still out there, and we're afraid that he might try to hurt him or Uryu again," he said feeling like he was delivering the worst news they had ever heard. The only thing worst was having to be told that their mother was gone.

The girls were silent a long time. "Okay, pop, we'll be there at six. We're going to go walking…I…we…need some air," Karin said, swallowing hard against a lump in her throat.

"Okay, but don't wander too far and keep your phones, okay?" he said, sighing.

"Yeah, don't worry pop," Yuzu answered and the line went off.

Isshin sat there a long moment before he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands, tears already in his eyes. He didn't realize that anyone was there for a long moment until he felt the bed dip beside him. He blinked, looking next to him to find Kisuke looking at him sadly. He swallowed back a ball in his throat.

"Some father figure, in here bawling and hiding from my son," he said, not bothering to wipe away the tears on his face.

"Isshin, don't do this to yourself," Kisuke said, putting an arm around him. "Just don't. This is hard for everyone, you and the girls included. Ryuken tore your family apart, and you did everything you could to find Ichigo."

"But did I?" Isshin said, not rejecting the comfort Kisuke was offering, because, quite frankly, he needed it.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Karin and Yuzu left walking, needing to get out and think. They didn't speak as they walked, there really was no need. As they walked, they passed several places, a diner called the Firecracker Diner, a Dojo it looked like, a beauty salon, a school called "Las Noches Free School", whatever that was, and in the distance they could see the observatory at the school. They kept walking until they found themselves on a soccer field. Karin saw a ball and started kicking it into the goal area as hard as she could over and over. Yuzu stood aside and watched Karin work out her anger and frustration. Soon she wasn't just kicking it, she was screaming at the top of her lungs with each kick.

"Did the ball offend you?" a boy's voice came from behind her. She had been about to kick it again but she was face to face with a boy about her age, seventeen or eighteen she guessed, with white hair on his head, and about the same height as she was. He wore a blue track suit and looked like he'd been running or something recently. Karin's face was streaked with tears.

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," he said, looking over where Yuzu stood, her hands crossed on her chest.

Karin swallowed, angrily wiping away the traitorous tears from her face and seeing that there was another boy with him. "Yeah, um, Karin Kurosaki," she said sighing. "That's my sister Yuzu. We…just got into town. Starting at SU this fall," she said, sighing, watching as the other boy, a blonde haired boy with vivid purple eyes.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, and this is my friend, Wonderweiss Margela. We go to SU too. I'm astronomy," he said, smiling at her. "Wonderweiss is going to be a vet. He's got a thing for caring for animals, even if he doesn't talk much."

Karin smiled back. "I'm astronomy too, well and Soccer."

Wonderweiss smiled, and Yuzu thought he had a goofy grin, but it was sweet. "Hi," he said, waving at them.

Toshiro looked at him and back to Karin. "He doesn't talk a lot, unless you getting him talking about his miniature donkey," he said, smiling.

Yuzu then realized that Wonderweiss was indeed leading a tiny four legged creature, obviously the miniature donkey. She squealed, surprising everyone present and went over to kneel beside the little spotted donkey. "What's its name?"

"She's Fura," Wonderweiss said with a smile at her interest in his pet.

"So cute!" Yuzu said, petting her for a long moment.

"She goes most places with me," he said, smiling at her.

Karin tried to smile, but she couldn't quite do it. She swallowed, tossing the ball up in the air a few times to collect herself.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Toshiro asked, looking at her.

Karin bit her lip, shaking her head. "It's complicated, and…I don't know what to do."

Toshiro nodded. "Complicated or not, do what is right, you know?" he said.

Karin nodded. "Yeah, I guess so, doesn't make it easier," she said, looking back toward the ocean motel they'd left in the distance.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

By the end of the day, Ichigo had gone through more lessons than Nnoitra had expected. He was honestly impressed by how easily he was picking up the skills he'd missed. He was obviously very intelligent, and seemed to absorb information like a sponge, always wanting more. There had been several times when they'd had to stop and Nnoitra would have to look up information online about something that Ichigo wanted to know more about. He was quite frankly more than impressed, he was amazed. About five, Isshin had let them know that Ichigo's sisters were coming at dinner time, and Nnoitra had to get him ready for that.

"Alright, Chiquito," he said, Ichigo looking up from intently reading about his latest curiosity, anatomy and physiology. He'd already spent thirty minutes looking at charts and explanations of what different organs did inside the body.

"Dinner time, we'll continue this tomorrow," he said, closing the lid on the laptop. Ichigo looked upset. "But…there's so much…I just wanna finish that one page…" he said, frowning at him.

"Oye, none of that Chiquito. You have to eat and rest, that's all there is to it. Also, Gin came back and brought some clothes for you," he said, smiling at him.

Gin had come back, dropping off a few shopping bags with clothes and a few other items, and leaving again after talking in hushed tones to Kira for a minute. Nnoitra was curious, but he'd have to wait until he came back for more than five minutes. He steered Ichigo into their room where he'd dumped the bags out and laid out all the clothes.

"Pick out what you like," Nnoitra said.

Ichigo stared at the assortment and couldn't do that. "I don't know…just…can you pick it out? I…I don't…" he stammered looking like he was completely overwhelmed.

"Okay, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, putting his hands on his shoulders and squeezing gently. "Okay, here, let's take this," he said, picking up a pair of athletic shorts with a string, just in case they were loose still. "And this," he said, picking up a pair of underwear. "And this," he said, picking up a plain red t-shirt."

Ichigo nodded, taking the underwear and shorts and putting them on quickly, giving Nnoitra an unintended and clear view of his ass when he did so. Nnoitra groaned internally, sure this boy was going to be the death of him by way of blue balls. He turned though, and put the shirt down.

"I don't want that, I want to wear this," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nnoitra wanted to argue that he'd worn the shirt for two days, and it was almost as long on him as his shorts, but he heard the door and knew that his sisters had gotten there. He shook his head and sighed, gesturing for him to come with him. He'd been told already that his sisters were coming, but Nnoitra was afraid it might be too much in the end.

As soon as they got out the door, Ichigo grabbed Nnoitra's hand in both his tightly, seeing the two girls from behind in the living room talking to Isshin. "Come on, Chiquito. I'll be there," he whispered, heading into the living room. Isshin looked up and smiled, seeing Ichigo following Nnoitra, almost trying to hide behind him.

"Ichigo," he said softly as they came in. Both girls could simply not believe that they were seeing their brother. "You remember your sisters? They've gotten big, they were five when you last saw them, they're seventeen now," he said softly.

Ichigo swallowed nervously looking first at the darker haired twin, recognizing Karin vaguely, and then the lighter haired twin, Yuzu, he remembered. She had hair like their mother. He nodded slowly, gripping Nnoitra's hand even harder.

Karin spoke first. "Ichigo…I've…we missed you," she said, trying to smile, but horrified that this was her brother, this broken person before her.

Ichigo nodded. "I…I…missed you too," he said quietly, trying not to look at either of them too long.

Yuzu's tears overflowed them and she couldn't stop herself from going and hugging him. Ichigo froze, eyes going wide as she held him around his chest. He started to panic almost immediately. He tried not to let it happen, but his heartrate skyrocketed, and Nnoitra could feel him trembling. He tried not to moved but he shook his head suddenly, gasping and pushing her away, bolting.

"Shit," Nnoitra grumbled, going after him, hoping to get to him before he locked himself in the bathroom. He didn't quite make it, getting there and thumping his head against the door. It was going to be a long night and it just started.


	9. Ghosts of the Coming Storm

AN: Excuse the missing accents and italics for names and spanish, I've got to set them up on my new computer correctly.

Chapter Nine

Ghosts of the Coming Storm

Yuzu stood and stared after where he'd gone followed by the taller man. She turned and looked at her father, eyes wide and teary still. "But...what…why…" she stammered.

"Hush, it's okay, Nnoitra will get him out, give him a minute," Isshin said, smiling at them.

"Who is that?" Karin asked, narrowing her eyes and looking the direction that her brother had disappeared.

Isshin sighed. "He's the person that found him after he ran away from Ryuken. Ichigo…is rather attached to him, and he seems to be one of the few people he trusts right now," he said with glance back to the bedroom, hoping that Nnoitra didn't have any issues getting him out.

"Why is he here now that you're here?" Karin asked, turning back to her father. "He should go, and leave Ichigo to us," she said, suspicious of this person that was involved somehow.

"It's not that easy," Kisuke said, coming into the living area from the kitchen, and setting down some snacks before dinner. "I'm Kisuke, I was friends with your father in college, I'm a doctor and professor of chemistry at SU," he said, nodding to them when they looked at him curiously. "I have been…ah, helping with Ichigo's medical care."

Karin glared at him as well. "What do you mean it isn't that easy? Ichigo has his family now, he doesn't need other people besides us."

Kisuke sighed. "Someone that is as severely traumatized as he has been sometimes has to have focal point. He's suffering from severe post-traumatic stress syndrome, and its amplified by the most recent assaults he's endured over the last few months. He's attached Nnoitra to safety, because he was the first person to offer him that. Not to mention he's having trouble adjusting to the fact that your father doesn't hate him, and he's still somewhat scared of what Isshin will do," Kisuke said with a sigh, hearing the light thumping on the door where Nnoitra was trying to rouse Ichigo from his hiding place. "He hides in the bathroom when he is upset," Kisuke explained, going back to the kitchen for the drinks he had set out.

Karin sat down slowly, grabbing a chip from the bowl Kisuke had sat down. She wasn't sure what to think. Yuzu sat beside her, watching the other direction with a great deal of trepidation.

Nnoitra was trying his best, honestly, but Ichigo's reactions were beginning to grate on his nerves. He was going to have to give him another instruction and make him come out. He was beginning to get used to doing it, though, and it seemed natural in a way.

He knocked again several times. "Chiquito, come out of there, now," he said, emphasizing the last word, his voice taking a harder edge than before. "If you don't come out, I swear, Ichigo, I'm going to…" he growled. He closed his eyes, biting his lip. "You're being a brat."

Finally, the door opened a crack and he looked up at Nnoitra with wide eyes. "I…I'm sorry, are you mad?" he whispered at him.

Nnoitra sighed. "I'm not mad, Chiquito, but you are going to have to stop hiding like this. I don't like not being able to get to you and help you when you feel bad. If you lock yourself in there, and something happens to you, I couldn't deal with that, okay?" he said, running a hand over his dark hair and shaking his head. "I know you have to get away from people, okay? I do. But you have to stop locking yourself in. It just isn't safe."

Ichigo nodded. "Okay, I won't…I won't lock it," he said, swallowing and looking up at him. "I just…she…and I didn't…and I can't explain…it was…" he said, biting hard on his lip and stopping the anxious flood of words.

Nnoitra knelt down, because when he sat on his knees he was about eye to eye with Ichigo. "I know, Chiquito, okay? Now, come on, tus hermanitas want to see you."

"But I'm…I'm messed up, Papi," he said, swallowing hard and looking toward the door. "Why…why would anyone…I just…"

Nnoitra put a hand against his cheek. "Chiquito, hush that nonsense. You just need to be yourself, and they'll learn to accept it and deal with it because they care about you. They are your sisters, Ichi-baby, okay?"

Ichigo nodded. "But…you'll stay with me?" he asked.

"You know I will, Chiquito," he said, smiling at him as he stood up, wincing at the pain in his knees. Sometimes he felt like such an old man for being in his twenties. "Come on," he said, taking Ichigo's hand and leading him back out into the living room.

As they came into the room, the two girls watched. Nnoitra sat down on the smaller loveseat and Ichigo crawled up beside him, squeezing himself into a very tight space against him. "Oye, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, trying to push him over a bit. "I have to breathe," he muttered, peeling his hand off his ribs where he'd grabbed around him. "Calm down," he said, glancing at him. Ichigo looked up and he managed it, after a moment.

Isshin had sat down beside the girls. "Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu were very happy to hear you were here," he said, trying to keep a neutral face. "They are going to school here this fall," he said, smiling. "They're both very good at studies."

Ichigo nodded. "We…we did a lot today," he said, glancing up at Nnoitra and continued when he smiled and nodded at him. "I…I did a test to see what I remembered," he said, fingers twisting together again. "But…but it wasn't great," he said sadly.

"Nonsense, Chiquito," Nnoitra said. "I told you, it was very good, you still remember most of your school from before. You are very smart, and it won't take you long to catch back up. I had to pry you off the computer earlier," he said, ruffling Ichigo's hair with a smirk. "What was it you were looking at? Anatomy and Physiology, yeah?"

Ichigo nodded. "I…I thought it was interesting," he said, smiling. "Uncle didn't let me have books, so I don't have a lot of good reading skills," he said, frowning. "But Uryu sometimes showed me his, if Uncle was gone," he said, glancing over at Isshin. "He always had funny books and sometimes he had comic books. I couldn't read all the words, but I liked them. I liked the superheroes, and…and that's why…oh…" he said, frowning and almost looking tearful all of a sudden.

Nnoitra looked at him. "What is it, Chiquito?"

"Ah, just…something Uncle had given me…after…after…" he said, sighing. "I…left my gifts behind," he said glancing up at Nnoitra.

Nnoitra bit his lip. "Ah, Chiquito, we do not need those things, we'll find you new things, that aren't given to you because that fucking bastard felt guilty for a brief second," he said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

Karin and Yuzu exchanged a glance. "Is Uryu here?" Karin asked finally.

"Yes, I'll see if he feels like coming out to talk before dinner," he said, standing and disappearing for a moment.

Yuzu swallowed and smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Ichigo, I didn't mean to…"

Ichigo shook his head. "It…it's okay…I just…I don't like to be surprised. It always meant something bad," he said, glancing around the room. "I just…I haven't been around anyone for a long time, and it…it's just kind of scary," he said, starting to chew on his thumbnail without thinking.

Isshin came back with Uryu, who looked somewhat rested, but his face was drawn a bit. He looked at the twins and smiled. "Hi, you two grew up a lot," he said, looking between them. "Karin," he said, nodding at the dark haired twin. "And Yuzu, I'm so sorry," he said, tears starting immediately.

Karin and Yuzu frowned and glanced at each other before looking back at Uryu. "What…what are you sorry for?"

Ichigo spoke up, glancing at Uryu. "He thinks he should have done something before, but he couldn't, he couldn't do anything because Uncle would have done to him what he did to me, and I wouldn't have liked that," he said, smiling at Uryu. "I'm glad he didn't do anything before I could find Papi, anyway," he said, sighing and leaning into Nnoitra again with a soft look on his face.

Uryu swallowed, shaking his head. "Ichi, don't say that…if…if I'd done something before…before…"

Ichigo got up and went to Uryu, putting his arms around him and smiling as he hugged him. "No, don't do that, I love you, and I would have been so much sadder if he'd hurt you," he said, smiling at him. "I would have been sad. I was always so sad when he hurt you, and I would have been sadder if he'd put you in the closet."

"Closet?" Karin said before she thought about her response.

Uryu put an arm around Ichigo and steered him back beside Nnoitra, sitting him down between them. Uryu put his head in his hands, sighing. "This is so fucked up," he whispered.

Ichigo sighed, leaning back into Nnoitra and closing his eyes. "I didn't want to see you cry," he said, glancing at Uryu. "So it was okay."

Uryu nearly lost it then, but he heard Chad's voice from behind him. "We are ready for dinner," he said, his deep voice loud in the silent room.

Ichigo nodded, jumping up and grabbing Nnoitra by the hand. "Come on," he said, smiling at him. "You said you were hungry, come on," he said tugging on him.

"Oye, brat, stop that," he muttered, standing up, following him.

Karin and Yuzu got up slowly, walking behind Uryu as he went behind Nnoitra and Ichigo. Isshin sighed, feeling like the night was actually going better than he expected.

They got everyone situated at the table, Kira had said he'd stay in one of the bedrooms while they got together as a family. Kisuke and Chad had cooked, and Gin hadn't come back from wherever he'd gone. Ichigo sat down, pulling his chair close to Nnoitra's so that he could touch him if he wanted. Nnoitra sat down at the end of the table like he usually did, sighing, closing his eyes for a minute. Karin and Yuzu sat down one of the long sides and Isshin took the other end. Ichigo's place had been sat on the other long side, but he'd moved around to the end. Uryu sat down across from the girls, still looking distraught. Kisuke hadn't set a place for him or Chad, intending to take their meals back to the bedrooms to eat.

Kisuke put out the foods on the table and served himself and Chad a plate quickly, then made one for Kira and disappeared with them. Everyone else began to pick out their foods. Ichigo just sat and picked at his silverware while he waited for Nnoitra to get his own food. Nnoitra glanced at him.

"Chiquito, what do you want?" he asked, snagging Ichigo's plate. Ichigo looked at him. Nnoitra rolled his eye, grabbed some of a few things, setting the plate down.

"Um, so, Karin and Yuzu, we're going to be staying here, because we're trying to keep Ichigo and Uryu in a safe place for a bit," Isshin said, nodding at them. "So, I guess you can either stay here, or we can rent the room we're in for a bit longer."

Karin and Yuzu glanced at each other. "I guess that would be good, is there room?" Yuzu said, frowning because she'd counted a lot of people in this place.

"Well, Kisuke can stay with Isshin," Ichigo offered, looking over at him. "He needs someone," he said, looking down at his plate where he was moving bits of food around without eating it.

Isshin glanced at him and cleared his throat. "Yes, that would be fine, and you two can share the room that Kisuke has been in," he said, looking at his daughters with a smile. "A little cramped, but necessary. It…it really isn't good for either Ichigo or Uryu to be alone right now."

"Are you and Ichigo sharing a room?" Karin asked, looking at Uryu. Uryu shook his head. "Chad stays with me," he said, taking a bite of food quickly.

Yuzu looked over at Ichigo. "Where do you stay?" she asked, frowning.

"With…with Papi," he said, looking at them, before looking back down at his plate, still pushing his food around.

"Chiquito, you're doing it again," Nnoitra muttered. "You have to eat, you can't just sit there and play with your food."

Ichigo looked up at him nodding and slowly taking a bite while he watched him. Nnoitra went back to his own food but kept an eye on how much Ichigo was eating.

"Um, so, you said you liked anatomy today?" Isshin asked, seeing Karin's eyes were looking dangerously close to angry.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, the inside of people is interesting. When Kisuke said I had bruised kidneys and a bruised liver, I wanted to see what that meant," he said, eating more now, as though when he stopped thinking he was hungry after all. "And that other stuff," he muttered. "But I think he was worried about nothing, because Uncle didn't break anything this time…"

Uryu didn't respond, just sighed, glancing away from the table. "It's…so odd, now that everything is out, and I'm not hiding anything…" he said finally, looking back. "I…I just have spent so long being terrified of what Ryuken would do to me and Ichi if I tried to get help…" he said, glancing over at Ichigo, realizing that he almost didn't notice his bruises because he was so used to them. "He said he'd kill Ichigo before anyone got into the house to help him," he said morosely. "He said that if anyone found out, he'd just make sure he disappeared for good," he said, chewing his lip for a moment. "It was…so surreal, that when I started school, I just left it, only going back when he called and demanded I come home. I went, knowing if I didn't…something was going to happen. And it still happened, even though I did everything he said," Uryu said, running a hand over his hair. "How…how could someone…how could anyone do what he did…"

Ichigo looked over at Uryu for a minute then frowned. "You still are upset about the bad thing," he said finally.

"Of course I am, Ichi!" Uryu said, louder than he intended, causing Ichigo to flinch and hide his face in Nnoitra's shoulder. "I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell," he said, sighing. "I…yes, Ichi, I'm…I'm still upset about it."

Ichigo turned his face back out of Nnoitra's shoulder and nodded slowly at him. "I'm sorry," he said to Uryu.

Uryu shook his head, exasperated. "Stop apologizing, Ichi, you didn't do anything," he said quietly.

"But…if I'd been quiet, you wouldn't have known and you wouldn't be upset," he said to him. "You…you just found out because of me."

"Ichigo, don't…you can't be serious?" Uryu said, staring at him. "You seriously would rather me not know than me know and be upset by it? I wouldn't have gone to my teacher if…if…" he said, sighing.

"But Uryu," he said, looking at him. "You don't need to be so sad and upset," Ichigo said. "I don't want you to be upset. So I wish I could go back before and not make any noise, then you'd still be happy at the school…"

Uryu couldn't take it then, standing and shaking his head, nearly running to the bathroom in his room. Ichigo watched him go and sighed. "I want him to be happy like when he got to go to school," he said looking up at Nnoitra. "If I didn't cry like I did, he wouldn't have heard it, and he wouldn't be sad."

Nnoitra sighed, putting his arm around him. "Chiquito, you are such a…" he stopped, not knowing what to say. Out of everything, Ichigo was more worried about Uryu than himself, putting the blame for Uryu's sadness on himself rather than where it belonged.

"The only one to blame is Ryuken," Isshin said finally, glancing over to the girls who had watched the entire exchange in silence. "He took Ichigo and hid him away, he abused both him and Uryu for twelve years, and then it took this to break Uryu's will. It is no wonder he's barely functional," he said, sighing deeply. "To know that his own father could do something so…wrong."

"What?" Karin asked, staring at her father. "You keep saying the bad thing, this thing, what? What is it that you're not saying?" she asked, glaring at Isshin, then looking at Ichigo who just watched with wide eyes as she grew angry.

"The bad thing," Ichigo said, looking at her. "He gave me gifts when he said he was sorry," he said, looking at her. "He said he was wrong, he said he was sorry, but he did it again, and he told me not to tell Uryu, and I didn't, I didn't want to make Uryu sad, because he wouldn't like it," Ichigo said, glancing between them. "I didn't like the bad thing," he said, shaking his head. "But Uncle said it was because I had taken away Aunt Kanae."

Nnoitra sighed, squeezing his shoulders again. "But when I ran away from him, I found Papi, so it was okay," he said, smiling at Nnoitra with bright eyes. "Even though the bad thing happened, it was okay, and now Uryu is sad, and I wish he didn't know about it. He wasn't jealous like Uncle said," Ichigo said, as though thinking out loud. "But Uncle lied, I know that, I just can't…can't believe what's real, and it's all mixed up in my head, and hard to get right," he said, sighing. "I know…I know…they told me I didn't kill momma and Aunt Kanae, I know that, but he told me I did something bad that made them die, and I just…" he winced, putting his hands over his face. "It's hard," he said, sighing.

Isshin smiled softly. "I know, Ichigo, but you're coming along, you can talk about it now," he said, encouraged by the fact he was getting the thoughts in his head that he'd been lied to a lot.

Ichigo looked up. "He said you didn't want me, and that he was saving me from the jail, and he said so many things, and I just…his voice was the only one in my head for so long." Ichigo, looked at his sisters. "I…I'm sorry I'm not right yet," he said, chewing his lip for a moment. "I want to be, I know that you…you don't want me to be like this, I'm not right…" he said, looking down at his hands.

Karin felt her anger begin to evaporate, and she nodded. "Ichigo, you're our brother, and…it's okay. You don't…you don't have to be sorry. It…will take time," she said, smiling at him. "I just…I wasn't expecting this to be as bad as it has been," she said, looking at Yuzu. "I didn't think…how horrible our own uncle could have been."

"I never…thought he was bad," Ichigo said, looking between them. "I thought…I thought he was supposed to do those things, and that he did it because I couldn't do things right…and I deserved it…" he said looking over at Isshin. "I just…I'm not used to…not being afraid of what someone's gonna do…"

"It's okay, really," Yuzu said, looking at him. "We're going to stay here, and we're going to help you, and we can help you catch up on your school stuff, too."

Ichigo nodded, smiling at them. "Okay," he said. "I know…I know I don't act like people should, but…but I don't know what to do…I stayed in a closet or a bathroom, and I sometimes made games up in my head, and then I had my superheroes but he gave them to me because he felt like he shouldn't have done the bad thing…" he said, sighing. "I liked to pretend with them…" he said, looking away. "Like I was gonna fly away, you know," he said, smiling at the memory. "But I guess I can't…can't do that because…because I'm not…I'm not…I'm grown up and grownups don't do those things. I looked at things and I know I shouldn't want to do the things I got used to doing," he said, sighing deeply again.

Nnoitra realized finally what some of the things Szayel had been talking about meant when he tried to explain what he meant about being a caregiver. It wasn't just about sex; it was about something more. It was giving someone the chance to be loved, nurtured, and be the child they never got a chance to be. He would wait and see what happened, but if things developed, he'd discuss it with Ichigo. He'd do what he needed to do.

He was about to say something when he heard the door open and looked up to see Gin come in with a woman in a dark suit with silvery short hair and a blond haired man in a similarly dark suit. He looked over and saw that they were in the middle of a dinner.

"Hey," he said, smiling and leaving the woman and man at the door as he headed over. "I…I guess I need to tell you something, Isshin," he said, sighing. "Um, the man that shot Masaki and Kanae was picked up by the FBI."

Isshin stood slowly. "What?"

Gin nodded. "He told them why he'd done it. He was ordered to do the hit by his boss, because…Ryuken had refused to pay for his drugs in full that he was buying from this guy. They…they wanted to kill his wife, as retaliation, but the guy didn't know which woman was Ryuken's wife, so he shot them both."

Isshin sat down heavily and stared at Gin for a long time. "You mean…you mean, he was the reason they were murdered, and then he put the blame on my son for some reason?"

"I don't know why," Gin said slowly. "He apparently has been addicted to prescriptions since he was in college.

Isshin's eyes widened a bit. "When he had that surgery on his wrist…" he said, frowning. "That's…that's when it started," he said.

Gin nodded. "Yeah, so the FBI is willing to help with surveillance and allowing Ichigo and Uryu to stay here, as long as there's a presence nearby. So, Isane Kotetsu and Findorr Calius here will be lead on their detail. They'll be rooming in another cabin, so they'll be near, and there will be a couple other agents in Las Noches until Ryuken can be picked up."

Ichigo stared at him. "I didn't do anything," he said, frowning and looking at the private investigator.

Gin shook his head at him sadly. "No, Ichigo, you didn't do anything, you were a little boy, and something terrible happened, and you shouldn't have been treated the way you were. He had no right to abuse you in any of the ways he did. He shouldn't have kept you captive, and he wasn't doing it for any reason other than some warped sense of spite. You and Uryu were convenient targets of his anger and rage, and he used you both."

Ichigo stared at the table then back to him. "So…so…it wasn't…it wasn't…he didn't do those things…because…I deserved them…" he said finally. "Why would he do those things?" he said finally, looking at Isshin and back to Gin. "If…if no one should do what he did…why did he?"

Gin didn't have an answer. "I…Ichigo, I can't answer that. He's a bad person and he did horrible things."

"He…he made Uryu hit me," he said, glancing over toward the room Uryu had gone into. "He made him do things like that, and then…and then…he…he…how could he? I…I…" Ichigo stood, shaking his head. "If…if I didn't do anything…if he did the bad things and not me…why…why would he…"

Nnoitra saw it coming, a sudden crashing wave that was about to slam into him. He stood slowly, knowing that at some point he was going to have to get hold of him in case he tried to run again. He couldn't let him.

"But I didn't do anything," he said, looking at Gin. "How could…why would someone…I didn't…" he said, and his hands went to his hair and started pulling at it. "If…if he was just bad…then he was wrong…and when he did that…when he said he was wrong…he was even worse!" he said, looking at Nnoitra. "He would make me hurt, and hit my head so I couldn't…I couldn't fight him, so…so…he knew he was wrong! He knew…he knew…he did it anyway!"

Nnoitra moved a second before Ichigo, thankfully for both of them. Ichigo's eyes had darted toward the door and he twitched before he lunged away from everyone, and Nnoitra grabbed him, pulling his arms into him, holding him from behind as he struggled with him, telling him to let him just go away, let him run away, that he had to leave…

"No, Chiquito, bebe, you can't leave, come on, please," he said, wincing at the amount of pressure he was having to exhert. He glanced at Isshin. He nodded to him, going to get Kisuke. He brought him back, and Nnoitra was glad because his grip was going to give soon as Kisuke came over, having pulled out one of the syringes he'd set ready.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry," Kisuke said, pulling the side of his shorts off, causing him to gasp out, and also giving a view of how badly he was bruised to his sisters. He injected him in the hip quickly, pulling back as he started to feel the effects of the valium. He finally got still, his legs struggling to hold him.

"Okay, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, loosening his grip and pulling him up into his arms, tucking him into his chest. "There, now, close your eyes, bebe," he said, feeling Ichigo's hands squeezing his shoulders as he came down from the panic attack.

"Hmm, Papi, I'm tired," he muttered, nuzzling into Nnoitra's neck. "Wanna go to sleep," he said sleepily.

"Okay, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, nodding to Isshin and taking him in the bedroom, laying him down. Before he stood up, Ichigo had fallen into a deep sleep. He sighed, pulling the cover over him, and running a hand over his head. "I know it's hard, but you can't go around it, Chiquito, you have to go through it…" he said, standing up and going back out to see what else Gin had found out.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Yumichika Ayasegawa and Ikkaku Madarame were not the conventional couple in any sense. Ikkaku ran the local Gym/Dojo, and Yumichika ran the local hair salon. They'd been together since high school, and Yumichika was very much feminine in every way. Ikkaku, on the other hand, was perhaps one of the most macho men around Las Noches. They made an interesting couple, to say the least. They sat in the Fire Cracker Diner at lunch and looked out as another person they didn't recognize walked down the sidewalk with a suit and tie.

"This is a strange thing," Ikkaku said, frowning.

They both jumped when Yumichika's phone rang out. He picked it up, seeing it was a call forwarded from the salon line.

"Yumichika speaking," he said professionally.

"Hey, Yumichika, it's Kisuke," came Dr. Urahara's voice.

"Oh, hi there, love, you needing to come in for a trim again?" he said, smiling. He loved working on Kisuke's fine, blonde hair.

"Well, I actually need a house call," he said, sighing. "A very…um…delicate one."

Yumichika frowned and looked at Ikkaku. "Delicate?"

"Well, I need maybe you and Dordoni. I have two young men that need some cleaning up, and I think a good haircut would go far in helping them recover from some recent issues they've had. Do you think you can come by later today? Harribel's, cabin two," Kisuke said, a pleading sound to his voice that Yumichika couldn't say no to.

"Alright, we'll be there," he said with a sigh. He clicked the phone off and looked at Ikkaku. "Back to the salon, need to do a house call. Want to drive me and Dordoni?" he said, smiling at Ikkaku.

"Sure," he said, standing up and leaving cash for their food and heading over to the salon to pick up the supplies they'd need and grab Dordoni from his house.

A couple hours later, they rang the bell on the cabin. Dordoni hadn't wanted to leave his wife and baby, but he also often did house calls like this for various people in Las Noches. Yumichika usually didn't work outside the salon, but he made an exception now and then. Ikkaku came along to drive them, and also because he was curious.

Kisuke answered the door and smiled at them. "Come on in," he said, letting them into the room. "So, the thing is, these two are in…uh, protective custody I guess, and no one can know they're here," Kisuke said, leading them into the living room where Uryu was sitting nervously on the couch. He looked up at the three new people.

Yumichika arched a bow. Obviously, this was one of the two of them. His hair was atrocious. He looked at Kisuke. "Alright, kitchen?" he asked.

Kisuke nodded. "Come on Uryu, I know you'll feel better once you get your hair a bit trimmed," he said, smiling at him as he led him into the kitchen and settled him into a chair, while Dordoni got out his case. Chad was sitting in the kitchen as well, watching carefully.

"And where's the other one?" he asked, not seeing anyone else.

"Well, I think you'll be able to handle it, but…" Kisuke sighed as Nnoitra finally got Ichigo to come out again. He'd been on the computer almost all day so far, and had a hard time even leaving the bedroom after the night before's events.

Nnoitra had him in front of him, hands on his shoulders, steering him firmly toward the living room. "But I don't…I don't need…" he was arguing with him.

"You do need to have something done with that messy head of yours," Nnoitra said, growling under his breath. "You look like a wet puppy," he muttered.

Yumichika had never seen this boy before, his hair was bright orange and he would have remembered someone with that color. "Oh, honey, what a mess…" he said, eyes wide. "What…in the world," he said, seeing that his hair was knotted and broken in places immediately. "I need to do this in the bathroom, his hair's going to have to be washed out," he said with a frown at him. "I really need him in the salon for this…" he muttered. "But since I can't, we'll make due. Ikkaku, get a chair from the kitchen," he said, nodding toward him.

Ichigo stared at this strange man. Yumichika was wearing a kimono style dress with his hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, and he wore light purple and teal makeup on his eyes and was very pretty, Ichigo thought. "I don't want…I…"

"Ichigo," Kisuke said gently, standing in front of him. "I know this is odd, but this is about getting back to a state of normal. You've spent twelve years not having anything that the rest of us take for granted, and sometimes, it is the simplest acts that can help. So something as simple as a haircut, or a good shower, it makes you feel better. So that's why it's important for you to get used to having these things, and Yumichika is the gentlest hair stylist I know," he said smiling at him. "If it becomes too much for you, we can stop. But I think it would be good to try.

"Please, Chiquito," Nnoitra said, smiling. "Give it a try."

Ichigo sighed, nodding. Before long, they'd gotten him washed and Yumichika was steadily dealing with what he thought was one of the most awful heads of hair he'd ever dealt with. There were split ends and broken strands, there were places where it had been cut haphazardly, obviously with a pair of regular scissors, and there were areas where pieces had been pulled out in clumps. He swallowed and frowned at Kisuke as he worked. He wanted to know what had gotten this boy's hair in such a condition. He knew what it looked like, but he didn't want to assume something so bad.

"How did your hair get so messy, Ichigo?" he asked, getting close to dealing with the mess.

"Uncle didn't like it being long, so he would cut it with the kitchen scissors. But he wasn't good, and sometimes he cut me too," he said simply.

Yumichika glance down, and was sure that this was a case of some sort of abuse because of his hair alone, but also his face was bruised. "Goodness, that's not a way to deal with such lovely hair."

Ichigo was quiet for a moment. "He hated the color of it," he said slowly. "He said it was ugly and he hated it."

"Oh, honey, it is quite lovely," Yumichika said, finishing up and turning the chair a bit so he could see himself.

Ichigo stared at his reflection for a long moment. His hair was cut in a short look around his head, but because of the damage, it sort of stuck up looked a bit puffed out. The hair was layered a bit, but Yumichika had no choice with the varying lengths.

"What do you think?" he asked, smiling into the mirror at him.

"I…I've never seen it look…like other people's hair," he said, staring. "I…like it," he said, smiling a bit.

Yumichika smiled and took him out where it looked like Dordoni had finished with the other boy who looked much cleaner with his hair cut nicely. Dordoni had a look similar to Yumichika, so he guessed the other boy's hair hadn't been in good condition either.

"Well, I must go, my wife is needed me home!" Dordoni said, glancing up from his phone.

Kisuke looked over. "How is Cirucci? And is Paloma doing well?" he asked, smiling at the new father.

"Yes, they're good, Cirucci is taking Paloma to work in a carrier tomorrow for the first time!" he said smiling proudly.

Yumichika nodded. "Yes, ah, we'll have to talk some, Kisuke," he said to Kisuke as he left with Ikkaku and Dordoni.

After they'd left Ichigo turned to Nnoitra and smiled. "Is it nice?" he asked him.

Nnoitra smiled, ruffling his hair again. "It is very nice, Chiquito," he said, glad to see a smile on his face after the night before.


	10. Ghosts of the Nurturing Heart

Chapter Ten

Ghosts of Nurturing Hearts

A period of three weeks passed quickly for those sequestered in the small cabin. In that time, Ichigo had managed to pick up on academic areas faster than anyone anticipated. While he wasn't completely caught up, he was a whole lot closer than anyone had expected. His reading level had just kept climbing, and he appeared to have a drive to learn as much as he could in the shortest amount of time. Nnoitra thought, though, there were times that he simply seemed sad, like he was lonely. He tried to comfort him, but he wasn't sure how he needed to comforted. He would often catch him talking to himself, or sitting longer than necessary in the bath, or doing things that he didn't know anyone could see he was doing. He spent most his time around the others quietly, sometimes talking when asked questions, but he still shied away from anyone except Nnoitra touching him. Kisuke had managed, with some difficulty, to perform a second exam on him during that time, making sure that he was healed up from everything. That had almost gotten Nnoitra a black eye from wrestling with the bratty Ichigo when he tried to get into the bathroom again. Granted, Ichigo had kept his promise. He didn't lock the door anymore.

Ichigo's sisters were still wary of Nnoitra, and didn't engage him in conversations often. He heard them talking about meeting with a couple of the boys in town now and then, and that was good. He hoped they found someone that they could have some fun with. He was, however, surprised when one said she had gone to see Wonderweiss. Nnoitra had glanced over, guessing no one else could have such a name. He'd have to ask Szayel about it. Classes resumed, and Nnoitra worked out doing his remotely for the time being. Kisuke had handled everything with Gin's help on that end.

Kisuke had been on hand the entire time, but Nnoitra wondered why he was doing that. He knew that he was wary of Ichigo's condition. However, he had a feeling there was something keeping him there other than cooking nearly three meals a day, which included coming home from the school to fix lunch for everyone. He was curious about it, but he also wasn't too worried. Ichigo had gotten used to having them around now, and that was significant.

By the end of that first period, though, Nnoitra was noticing more and more that Ichigo seemed to be on edge. He would escape as often as he could to the bedroom, and when Nnoitra came in, he'd look oddly at him, as though he'd caught him doing something he shouldn't. Finally, Nnoitra was done wondering.

Ichigo had still not gotten used to the girls and their desire to hug him, especially Yuzu. The poor girl would be distraught, but she kept trying, hoping that Ichigo would let her have some contact after all. This time, though, Nnoitra went quietly into the room, and hearing the tub running, wondered exactly what he was doing. So instead of going into the bathroom, he paused at the door where it was slightly cracked. He heard the water turn off, and then he heard him talking softly. Nnoitra frowned, wondering what he was doing. He listened for a long while and figured out he was playing. He frowned. He was making up some kind of little game in the water, he realized. It dawned on Nnoitra that this was how he was coping. Instead of panicking he was regressing, going into that childish mindset that he'd had for such a long time. It was comforting, he imagined, to not have to be an adult for a little bit.

He couldn't believe he missed it. From the beginning, he seemed to have retained the childlike traits that most people lose over time just by virtue of having it socialized out of them. Ichigo never had that experience. He was left to his own devices day after day, no outside contact, and he'd learned to cope with it by entertaining himself. He'd made up games and played with mundane objects as a way to make it through every day of his life. He was trying so hard now, being the adult he knew he was in front of everyone. He didn't climb into Nnoitra's lap anymore, but he would sit as close as anyone would sit to another person. He was in essence mimicking what the other people were doing around him. He was learning socialized skills, picking them up just like his own academic skills. He knew how he was supposed to act and what was appropriate, he'd figured that out quickly watching the reactions of the others around them.

Nnoitra stepped back from the door and leaned against the wall, putting a hand on his head. He wasn't happy, though, he thought to himself. He was trying his best to be what everyone wanted him to be, and all he wanted was to be able to have someone give him the things that he'd missed for the last twelve years. He'd decided that it was impossible, so he was coping the best way he could. He was doing things when no one could see him that he thought were childish and he couldn't do. Nnoitra bit his lip thoughtfully, smiling to himself. He had an idea.

Nnoitra left the room and took out his cell phone and texted Szayel.

 _Yo, you around?_ He sent to Szayel.

 _Yeah, what's up?_ Szayel sent back.

 _Um, you know where you visited a few weeks ago, where I'm at?_

 _Sure, man. I remember. You need something?_ Szayel asked. _Your mom takes care of that doesn't she?_

 _This is something I don't want to ask her to do,_ he tapped out with a sigh.

 _Oh?_

 _Yes, look, I need some stuff, and it…might sound weird._

Szayel took a long time to answer. _This is about what I mentioned before, isn't it? ;)_

 _Fucker, shut up. Yes._ Nnoitra rolled his eyes and sighed before sending the next one. _Okay, so yes it is, so I need information on what to do and…some stuff._

 _You got it man, whatever you need, and I'll throw in some extra for you,_ Szayel sent back.

 _Fuck you, just get what I tell you, and get over here, bastard._

Nnoitra sent the list of things he thought he'd need to him. Then, he checked to see if Ichigo was still in the bath. Unsurprisingly, he still was, and he could hear slight splashing and muttering now and then. He smiled, though, because it was fucking adorable. He sighed, and ventured into the internet to find out exactly what he was going to get into. After fifteen minutes of sorting through porn sites and things that were most definitely not what he was looking for, he came across a really useful page. It detailed almost exactly what the situation was. He stared at the words on the screen and he thought, maybe, just maybe, he could help him, at least a little bit. He didn't know if he was interested in the other things, but the words that got his attention stood out. "Sometimes, a person needs nurturing they never got enough of, and sometimes, a person needs to feel taken care of for a brief time. Sometimes, going into a little space helps with that."

He read over almost the entire website. It was written from the perspective of someone who was one of these "littles". There were articles and different types of these things. He was fascinated by the things that these people did and how it affected them in their everyday life. One person had stated that his "little time" made him ready to face the terrible reality of the real world the next day. Another woman stated that her own "babygirl" time made her able to handle the emotional draining job of being a full time teacher the rest of the week. He was drawn into it immediately, as well. It was strange, feeling like the only thing that mattered was what he needed to do to make Ichigo happy. He followed links to some other sites by "daddies" and "mommies" and he found that they shared a lot of his traits of wanting to care for someone. He ran through lists and checklists and guides, and before long he heard a knock at his door. He looked up, glancing at the clock on the computer, and realized he'd sat there for two hours.

He got up, opening the door to see Szayel standing there with two paper shopping bags, grinning from ear to ear. He'd brought their other friend, Hisagi with him. Hisagi was a fellow business student with Nnoitra. He was quite an interesting person. The only one he knew with facial tattoos. Nnoitra frowned, turning and peeking inside the bathroom door. He could hear Ichigo still muttering and splashing now and then.

"Hey, Chiquito, you're gonna be a prune," he called.

He heard a splash and there was silence. "Oh, um, I fell asleep," he muttered, hiding the fact that he most definitely had not been asleep. He sighed, and looked at Szayel and Hisagi.

"What's going on?" he asked, stepping back in and sitting on the end of the bed.

Hisagi shrugged. "Not much, man. Missed you in classes, but proff says you're working remotely. How long before you can come back?" he asked thoughtfully.

Nnoitra shrugged. "No idea, I'm here until they catch that fucking prick," he muttered, looking up as Ichigo came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his midsection, and he stopped at stared, mostly at Hisagi.

Hisagi arched a brow and smirked. "Damn, you're a cute thing," he muttered.

Szayel sighed. "Out, horn dog," he muttered, pushing him out the door. "And the two girls are seventeen, so don't get any ideas," he added quietly as he shoved him out the door.

Szayel rolled his eyes. "I swear, if it has legs, that man will try to fuck it. I think he might try to fuck something without legs if it came along," he muttered, smirking at Nnoitra.

Ichigo had come around and was standing nearer to Nnoitra. He didn't try to climb into his arms all the time, but he did tend to stay near when he was nervous. Szayel sat down the two bags he had on the bed.

"Everything you asked for is in there," he said, glancing at Ichigo who was frowning and staring at the bags. "And then some things…just in case."

Nnoitra narrowed his eye at him. "Just in case?"

Szayel shrugged. "Let me know if you want anything else. Of either type of toy," he said, whispering the last quietly.

Nnoitra looked at him for a long moment before it dawned on him what he was talking about. Those kind of toys. "I don't know if that's even going to be needed," he muttered seeing that in the right hand bag, there were most definitely toys of the adult variety, while the right hand bag contained the things that Nnoitra had specifically asked for. He picked up the right hand bag and sat it beside the bed. "But…thanks."

Szayel nodded. "I better find out if Hisagi has talked anyone into fucking yet, I swear…" he muttered, stepping out and seeing Hisagi had cornered a blond guy that Szayel didn't know. The blond was blushing furiously and smiling at Hisagi. Hisagi was leaning over and saying something to him and the blond would put his hand over his mouth for a second and then turn away shyly. "I swear," Szayel said, "I can't take him anywhere without him trying to get every female, male, and other gender into bed," he muttered, shaking his head and dragging Hisagi away, complaining loudly.

Nnoitra shook his head and closed the door, seeing Ichigo was just staring at him, towel clutched tightly in his hand. "Come here, Chiquito, we need to talk." He sat down at the head of the bed and patted the bed beside him.

Ichigo's eyes went wide and he came to him slowly, carefully climbing up on the bed and sitting beside him on his knees, staring at him. He didn't say anything but Nnoitra could see he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, Chiquito, don't look at me like that," he said, sighing. "What is the matter?"

"Are you leaving?" he asked quietly.

"Why would I leave you, Chiquito? I promised I wouldn't, remember?" Nnoitra said, smiling softly at him.

Ichigo bit his lip and still looked like he was about to cry. "But…you don't want me anymore, and you're going to t-tell me that I'm…I'm not good enough for you, and you're going to leave, and find someone who doesn't act so foolish, and doesn't sit and play in a bathtub like a toddler, and…and…" he said, starting to heave quick breaths.

"Ah," Nnoitra said, reaching over and pulling him into his shoulder. "Chiquito, is that what's wrong? Is that why you haven't been sitting in my lap or cuddling with me, bebe?" he asked, smiling as he felt Ichigo almost melt into him.

"I shouldn't…shouldn't do that…I'm not a…a…child…and…it…" he said, and Nnoitra could feel his whole body tremble.

"Ah, Chiquito, Chiquito," he said, sighing as he squeezed him tightly. "No, no, that's not true."

Ichigo looked up at him with wide eyes. "What's not true?"

"That you shouldn't do those things if you like, Chiquito. You are so very special to me, and I've come to miss holding you and having you sit on my lap and do all those things," he said, smiling. "There was something about the first day I found you, you did something no one else had. You gave me a purpose, and that's beautiful. I'm here to take care of you, Chiquito. So…I did some reading on it, and there are other people out there, other people that like to be childish now and then, and they have people that want to take care of them too," he said, smiling at him.

Ichigo frowned. "There are?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, there are, so that's why Szayel brought these things for me. They're for you. And no one out there has to know about them, if you don't want them too, it can be between us," Nnoitra said, ruffling Ichigo's hair.

Ichigo nodded, reaching for the bag and looking inside it. He frowned, looking back at Nnoitra and then back to the bag. "I…I can…you mean, it's not weird?"

Nnoitra smiled. "No, Chiquito. No more weird than anything else in this world. Go on. See what all is in there."

Ichigo crawled over toward the middle, kneeling in front of the bag and pulling out what was inside. There were several coloring books and a very big set of crayons, a set of markers, a pad of paper, some toy super hero figures, a few little cars, and a stuffed lion. Ichigo picked up the lion and hugged it, turning to look at Nnoitra and for the first time in the last few weeks, he smiled at Nnoitra.

"I…I…thanks, Papi," he said, and lunged forward, grabbing Nnoitra around the neck and hugging him tightly.

Nnoitra enjoyed it, of course, but he realized that he wasn't letting go, and he was nearly panting. "Chiquito, what's wrong?" he asked, running his hands down his sides, hoping that he wasn't hurt or something. He found that his towel had slipped off and Nnoitra glanced downward, arching his brow and he heard Ichigo whine in his throat as Nnoitra realized what had happened.

"M'sorry…sorry…it just...I…" he panted.

"Chiquito, look at you," he muttered, running his hand around his hip to stroke his arousal with one hand while he pulled his body in closer to him. Every bit of blood in Nnoitra's body rushed downward, and he realized that he was glad he was wearing jeans. Ichigo gasped, straddling Nnoitra's lap now. "You're a needy little boy, huh?" he said, hand still working on him between them. "Do you want me to help?"

Ichigo leaned back, eyes wide and shocked as he nodded. "Please, Papi…please…I want you to…to…touch me…and make it go away…"

"Aw, poor Chiquito," he said, pulling him close to his chest. "Are you sure, bebe? I don't want you to think I am making you do anything." He asked, stilling his hand for a moment until Ichigo started to buck against him.

"I love you, Papi, please…it aches…and your hand is warm…" he said, and Nnoitra was done before he'd even gotten Ichigo off. He rolled his eye up and swallowed, having for the first time in his life literally went off from someone's voice alone.

"Fuck," he muttered, resuming his ministrations to Ichigo until he crashed down the other side with a slight whimper, still clinging to him as though he were the only thing in the world that mattered to him.

Ichigo panted for a long time, holding onto him for a few more minutes, and Nnoitra felt tears falling finally. He pushed him back and stared concerned at him.

"Chiquito, are you okay? Was that a mistake? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, worried beyond belief that he may have messed up the one thing in his life he didn't want to mess up. He wanted this. He wanted Ichigo.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just…I didn't expect you to…to…care about…this…and then you did…and I wanted to…to…I want…more…" he said quietly, cutting his eyes up at him.

"More?" Nnoitra asked, his stomach already fluttering. "What do you mean, more?"

Ichigo blushed brightly, turning away. "I…I want to be yours, Papi. Because you don't think I'm weird because of how I am. I don't…don't have to act with you. You just…take me how I am. I think I decided a couple weeks ago that I felt this way. And I didn't know what to do. I was trying to act like a grown up so you would like me," he said, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"Oh, Chiquito, you didn't have act like anything for me to care about you," Nnoitra said, stroking his hair gently. "You are who you are, and you can't change that. In here, with me, you can be whatever you like. But I'm warning you," he said, smirking at him. "You act like a little brat, I promise, I'll turn you over my knee and spank your ass red."

Ichigo smiled at him and hugged him tightly. "You promise?" Ichigo asked, and Nnoitra thought that this brat was definitely going to be the death of him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Uryu wasn't sure about this at all, but Chad seemed to think that it might help him a bit, and Kisuke had agreed. The FBI had decided to allow him some freedom as his position was far less precarious than Ichigo's. While Ryuken hadn't been caught, they were relatively certain that he wouldn't move against Uryu just on the basis of him being less of a target than Ichigo had been. Isane had decided to accompany him to visit with the owner of the Las Noches Free School. The school was an interesting school in that it used a very different format for learning. Yoshino Soma ran the school independently, funding it mostly from her own wealth. The school was a Sudbury School, so the students all held a great deal of the responsibility for their own education. Yoshino, and her husband, Koga, had always wanted to do something of this type. Each year, the parents of the children enrolled would make a donation to the school, and depending on their economic ability, the prices were scaled and spread out in payments.

Koga ran the local junkyard and recycling center, and many of the students often would make things out of the junk parts they would find there. There were a lot of different things that the students could choose to do. The school was equipped with a complete kitchen and laundry so the students could learn cooking and chores if they wished, there were computer rooms, game rooms, a couple science labs of differing levels, full access to any tool they could find that interested them, a large playground, and it was close enough to the beach that the students often went down there for mini field trips. Sometimes, they even got together for longer events on the weekends that were optional.

The building was an old run down mansion when Yoshino purchased it for nearly nothing. Over the period of a couple years, she slowly converted it into a school. It had taken a lot of work, but she eventually gotten the place to the point it could accept students. The outside was the old style red brick color, but it had been completely modernized, with safety features in the event of hurricanes or flooding, including a storm shelter. The house had an old carriage house separate from the main building, and they had coverted that into a shop and mechanic's space. That had been almost twenty years before, and the school had been quite successful, with a nearly 90 percent college entrance rate.

Uryu wasn't sure as he stood outside and stared at the massive building. He glanced behind him at Chad. "You sure this is okay?" he asked quietly.

Chad nodded, showing him into the school. Uryu was impressed, he wouldn't imagine how school like it was on the inside. There were bulletin boards, art projects, science projects, pictures, everything along all the walls. Several small kids came walking by quickly, glancing at Chad.

"Would you like to see the music room?" Chad asked.

Uryu nodded. "Sure, I'm not much for music, more of a sewing person," he mutterd.

"You can see the sewing room, too," Chad added as he led him to the large band room.

Uryu was impressed. He saw more instruments than he could have imagined in a small school. All the different types of drums and brass and more. "That's amazing."

"We like to let the kids try out the different instruments and see if they like anything," Chad said as Isane sat down on the desk and picked up his guitar. He started strumming it thoughtfully as he sat there, and Uryu was amazed. The gentle way he handled the strings. He listened for a while until he stopped and Uryu looked up, realizing he'd been staring. He pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded.

"You play very nicely," he commented.

Chad nodded. "Would you like to see some more of the rooms?" he asked as a couple of middle school aged girls came running in.

"Mr. Chad!" the girl with green dyed hair and a laptop tucked under her arm. "Who's this?"

Chad smiled at her. "Lillynette, this is my friend Uryu, he might be hanging out and helping around here for a bit."

"Oh that's nice, maybe I can interview you next!" she said, smiling. "Come on Ururu," she said to the other, darker haired girl with pigtails. Yachiru wanted to have lunch with us!" she said, pulling the quieter girl with her. "Then I've got to edit the last one I did over at Shuhei's places."

They disappeared, and Chad shook his head leading Uryu on a semi tour of the place. There was a large computer room, but it was also equipped with game systems and televisions, all with headphones. There was the large kitchen, and a big room that looked like a bunch of pillows and piled up mats. Uryu stared for a moment in there.

"That's the crash room, so if the kids need a place to relax, or if they get overwhelmed, they can go have a moment to themselves," Chad explained, leading him past the math room, and the large library that looked like it doubled as an English and reading room. They came to the sewing room next where there was a pink haired girl sitting at the table frowning as she was trying to thread a sewing machine.

"Yachiru, having a problem?" Chad asked, smiling. "Where's Mr. Rose?" he asked, looking around.

"He had to go take a phone call," she said, sighing and looking at it frustrated.

Uryu didn't think, he just moved around and took a few minutes and showed the girl how to do it properly. He showed her a few shortcuts and told her the different ways that threading the machine could be done. He stood up and found Chad smiling at him, and a man was standing beside him with long, curled brown hair and arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, if Chad is going to bring someone by to help around here, you definitely have the qualifications," he said, reaching a hand out. "Rose Otora. Well, used to be something else, but I changed it a few years ago."

Uryu shook his hand and smiled at him, and they started talking about their various sewing and craft projects. For a little while, Uryu felt rather…normal. And he liked it.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ryuken's last few days had not been good. He'd spent most of them trying to avoid people that might recognize him, granted, it wasn't hard, considering the condition he was in. He had continued to stay at the house with Cang. He leaned against the wall of the alley. He just had to get out of there for a while. He swallowed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and sucking on it for a long time. He stood there for a long time until he heard someone walking down the alley. He looked up to see a dark haired man with his hands stuffed in his pockets and muttering under his breath. He stopped in front of Ryuken.

"Have you seen the star child?" Kugo asked, smiling at him.

"What star child?" Ryuken said, sighing and rolling his eyes.

"The one I saw, the beautiful, beautiful star child," he said, looking up toward the sky.

Ryuken shook his head. At least if someone was going to run into him, it was someone with some sort of mental condition. He sighed, exhaling the smoke and shook his head, playing along. "What's this star child, anyway?" he muttered. He really didn't care, he was just bored, and he was starting to suffer withdrawl already a bit.

"Oh, he's the child of the aliens that talk to me," he said, smiling. "If I can get him, and I take him to the special extraction point, they'll come and get me and take me away," he said, looking up again. "It's taken a long time, but there's no mistake, it is the star child," he said wistfully.

Ryuken shook his head, pulling off the cigarette again. "How do you know it's the star child?"

Kugo smiled at him. "They have red or orange or yellow hair, and they are pale and white, and that's him," he said, smiling. "I know where he is, but he hasn't come out since the tall man took him inside. I've been watching. And now there's these other people that are around the place and I can't get to him. So I have to wait."

Ryuken almost didn't realize what he was saying. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him. "Really?" he asked. "Where is that?"

"Down by the beach, the seaside motel, the tall man carried him there from his garage," he said, glancing around. "But I have to go back, to see if he's come out so I can take him to the extraction point," he said, smiling and walking away slowly.

Ryuken dropped the cigarette and crushed it out with his boot. Wasn't that interesting… He could only think of one person that might fit that description, and it was that fucking worthless child. He had worried that someone might find him, but now what was he to do? He wandered away and back down to the beach to Cang's place. So…he knew where the fucking child was…now what to do about it?


	11. Ghosts of the New Ideals

Chapter Eleven

Ghosts of New Ideals

At first, Ichigo struggled with the idea that he was able to do these things without Nnoitra thinking he was weird. It had taken Nnoitra showing him what he was talking about. Ichigo had been fascinated, reading people's accounts of what they did and why. He couldn't imagine that there were other people in the world that felt this way, that needed to do something like this. It wasn't the weirdest thing in the world after all. So it didn't take long until Nnoitra found him resuming his habit of crawling into his lap, both inside and outside of their room. It surprised him the first time after their talk when Nnoitra was sitting in the recliner reading on his ebook reader when Ichigo had come up and stood by his elbow, looking at him with that look on his face that Nnoitra didn't think he'd ever be able to say no to.

"What is it, Chiquito?" he asked him.

Ichigo had blushed a little and leaned over and whispered into Nnoitra's ear so that his sisters and Gin who were sitting in the living room doing their own things could hear him. "Papi, can I sit on your lap?" he asked.

Nnoitra smiled, patting his lap and nodded, and Ichigo had climbed over the side of the chair and settled in across his lap and putting his head on Nnoitra's shoulder. Both his sisters looked up, confused, because he hadn't been doing that for a while, but obviously, Nnoitra was happy to let him do it. As Nnoitra read, he stroked Ichigo's head and would rub his back now and then. It was such a seemingly simple thing, but it was something that Ichigo needed desperately. Feeling safe and knowing that no matter what, he was okay.

There were other little things the other housemates watched develop over the next two weeks. For one thing, Ichigo would often ask Nnoitra's permission for a lot of things, just odd things, like being excused from the table, if he'd eaten enough, if he could have something in particular to eat… It wasn't the same as before, though. Kisuke realized quickly that it was a different thing entirely. There was no shame associated in these little things, and he seemed pleased when he got what he wanted, and he noted that he'd sort of pout when he was told no. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was just…different. So several weeks later, Kisuke had pulled Isshin aside and told him that he thought something was different. Between the two of them, they were curious to know what it was.

Isshin knocked on the door after Nnoitra and Ichigo had already gone to bed. There was a muffled, "just a minute" and they both heard movement inside. A second later, Nnoitra had opened the door and looked at Isshin and Kisuke. "Um, yeah?" he asked, glancing between them. He was dressed in his pajamas already.

"Um, I just wanted to find out what exactly is going on?" Isshin said, putting a very father orientated voice on.

Nnoitra glanced at the bed and back to Isshin. "Well, sleeping, mostly," he said, but Isshin caught the sound to the edge of his voice.

"Mostly?" Isshin asked, crossing his arms.

Nnoitra sighed, glancing outside the door and seeing that Kisuke and Isshin were alone. "Come in and I'll explain, but…" he dropped his voice lower. "You have to promise that you won't explode or say anything that might…uh…embarrass him or hurt his feelings, okay?"

Isshin frowned, brows meeting for a second in confusion and concern. "What does that mean?" he answered.

"Come in, he doesn't want the others to know about his…ah…well…any of this," he said quietly, stepping back and sitting down on the bed, patting the lump beside him. Kisuke and Isshin came in, both standing against the door that led to the bathroom.

"Chiquito, come here," he said, trying to pull the cover off of his head.

A muffled "Nuh uh," came from under the cover.

"Chiquito, get out from under there right this second," he said, tugging at the blanket again, this time Ichigo's head popped out and stared at Isshin and Kisuke and back to Nnoitra. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it back of his head. "Don't wanna," he said, muffled by the blanket. "Tell them to go 'way," he said, and seemed to be pulling further under the cover.

Nnoitra rolled his eyes, sighing. "Chiquito, I think that your father should understand what we're doing and why, it is your father."

Isshin frowned, leaning back against the wall. "Nuh uh," came Ichigo's voice. "Not coming out til they go 'way."

"Going to be this way, eh, Chiquito? You're in one of those moods," he muttered, leaning over and reaching under the covers, appearing to be looking for something. He grinned, and yanked, pulling the stuffed lion out from under the covers and holding it up and out to the side.

Ichigo sat straight up, throwing the covers off and lunging toward the stuffed animal that Nnoitra was holding out of his read. Nnoitra put a hand on Ichigo's chest, making sure he couldn't reach it, and couldn't fall.

"Papi, you're mean, gimme him!" he said, trying to reach it and then sitting back on his knees, crossing his arms and very obviously pouting. "I don't like you anymore."

Nnoitra gave a half smirk. "Um hmm, I'm sure, now you don't get Kon back until you do what you're told, comprende?"

"That's not fair!" he said, looking at him and very obviously whining.

"Ah, that's what I said!" he said, narrowing his eye at him.

Ichigo turned his back to Nnoitra and grumped audibly before glaring at him. "Fine."

Nnoitra looked over at the very confused expressions of both Isshin and Kisuke. Over the last few weeks, Ichigo had really been coming out of his shell to everyone else, talking more about things he'd learned, discussing different things with both his sisters and the others in the house. He'd even progressed to letting Yuzu and Karin hug him, but he was not quite comfortable with any of the male residents of their house getting even close to touching him, except Nnoitra, of course.

"Now, either you come out of your little space for long enough to talk to your father and Kisuke, or I'm not going to give you the surprise Szayel is bringing for you tomorrow…" Nnoitra said, smirking at him.

Ichigo turned and looked at him, shocked. "But…but…you can't do that! You promised!"

"I know, but this is important and I know it is outside our agreement, bebe, but this is not something that I can explain alone," Nnoitra said handing Ichigo the stuffed lion again. He snatched it out of his hand and frowned for a long moment. "I warned you that this might happen. That is why I wanted to talk to them before and you refused."

Ichigo bit his lip thoughtfully for a long moment. "They won't understand," he said finally, his voice returning to the normal timber and his shoulders slumped visibly. This time it wasn't the pouty way as before, this was an incredibly distressed and worried look. He looked between Kisuke and Isshin. "They won't understand and they'll tell me to stop and I can't because it makes me happy…for the first time ever," he said, picking at the furry lion's mane without looking up at them.

"What won't I understand?" Isshin said, frowning. "And what do you mean by agreements and this? What is going on?"

"I…I needed something that I couldn't get from anyone else," Ichigo said, articulating in his adult voice, as Nnoitra had come to refer to it as. "So…Nnoitra and I talked and his friend Szayel gave him this idea. We talked a lot about it, and if it would work, and if it would help me feel…normal…the rest of the time, you know, out there," he said, rubbing the top of his head. "I mean, I know that in like the month or so I've been here, I've changed a lot, I had to because of who I used to be. But…I need that me. The one I used to be, but never got what I needed. So…we started this. And I don't want you to think I don't understand what I'm doing," he said, glaring at both Isshin and Kisuke. "I know what I'm doing, very well. But, having this little space, that's what I call it, it helps me deal with everything else," he said, sighing.

"Little…you mean like…" Kisuke's eyes widened. "Ah, I see…" he said nodding.

Isshin looked at him. "I don't follow."

Kisuke smiled. "Well, it is a type of Domination and submission relationship that some people enjoy," he said nodding. "I've known a couple people that were into that lifestyle, not this particular type, theirs was something called 'pet play' where the one person would be a kitten in this case, and the other would be the owner, taking care of the kitten and doing things like that. There are several different types of these relationships, of course, the more extreme being a 'master and slave' relationship where the submissive gives up all control of their life to the Dominant partner. Really a fascinating thing, though…"

"Wait, you're taking advantage of my son like this?" Isshin said, frowning at Nnoitra.

Nnoitra shook his head but Ichigo had got up and come around the bed, standing firmly in front of Isshin. "Don't do that. Don't you dare pretend like you can say what I can do. You, and Kisuke, and Karin and Yuzu, you all want me to be something I don't know how to be. And I am. I'm doing my best. I'm doing everything I can to give you and them what you all want. Because I care about what you and them feel. I know that seeing me broken and fucked up like I really am is going to make you hurt and I don't want that. I never wanted that. I don't want Uryu to feel guilty because of the awful things Ryuken did to me. And yes, I know what he did was wrong. It took time, but I've managed to figure this out with Nnoitra's help. He saw what I needed, he noticed, and he's done everything he can to give me what I need. I _need_ this, it isn't a want. I can't function out there without this in here between us." He sighed, taking a deep breath and going the place he knew was going to be hardest to understand. "And yes, it does involve sex. Not really yet, but I want it to no matter how much Nnoitra tries to tell me we have to wait longer. I want to be in control of it. I want to be able to say what happens with me, and this way, I can do just that. Nothing, not one thing, that Nnoitra says or does in here or out there is something we haven't already agreed to."

Nnoitra stared at his hands, letting Ichigo use his own voice. He knew it was important for him to do this for himself now. He had to stand on his own feet and prove that he was capable of making these choices, even though he was choosing not to make choices.

"I need this because I can't quite give up something I never had, something…something that is so warped and twisted and just messed up in my head. I can't even think of being a kid without seeing his face, and it just makes me want to…want to…do things I shouldn't," he said, looking away.

Isshin stared at his son, his completely amazing and grown son who was standing up to him despite the fact that he still couldn't bear to be touched in the slightest yet. Isshin nodded and looked at him. "Okay, I…I don't understand, I won't say I do," he said, looking over at Nnoitra. "But I do know that you've been happier since whatever this is started. So…I guess…all I ask…is if you need me, come tell me. I'm still your father."

"You'll always be my father," Ichigo said, smiling at him. "This…this is a different thing. This is wrapped up in control and freedom, and my choices with what I want to happen with me. This is something that gives me the confidence to leave this room, and that's just what it is."

Isshin nodded. "Alright," he said. "But, promise me, both of you, that if something changes and you need help, come to me."

Ichigo nodded, moving forward and tentatively moving to hug Isshin. Isshin carefully put his arms around him and held him for a moment, feeling his heart beat rapidly against his own chest and hearing his breathing speed up. He swallowed and leaned back. "I want to be me, but I've…I've got to find me first."

Isshin smiled, reaching over and thumbing a stray tear off his son's face. "Okay, son, okay."

Nnoitra looked over then. "We agreed that you are his safe person," he said, looking at him. "If he doesn't want to break his role, doesn't want to leave his little space with me, you are the person he can go to, to step outside, if you will. I insisted, though he didn't want it," Nnoitra said as Ichigo came back and sat on the edge of the bed. Nnoitra ruffled his hair gently. "Just like I won't let him do half the things he wants to do yet, because that's part of it. I know he isn't ready, no matter how much he argues the other way."

Isshin nodded, smiling at Nnoitra, bowing slightly, and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. He closed his eyes and went around to the bedroom he and Kisuke were sharing. He sat down on his side and thought a long time until Kisuke put a hand on his arm. Isshin turned and looked at him. "Is it okay?" he asked him.

"It is," Kisuke said, smiling. "Now go to sleep, Isshin," he said, rolling over and turning off the lamp.

Isshin sat there for a long time, though, unable to sleep until finally he felt the tears well again. It was sudden and he couldn't stop them, and it was like everything in all the world was wrong and right at the same time and he just wanted to make his son happy. All he ever wanted was to have him happy.

He felt the bed move and Kisuke came around and sat down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders and leaning against him. They sat like that for a long time, until Isshin ran out of tears. He felt Kisuke reach over and wipe his face in the darkness.

"Isshin," he said quietly. "You love him, and he loves you," Kisuke said. "That's all there needs to be, right?"

Isshin nodded, looking over in the dim light at Kisuke's steely gray eyes. He saw something, something he didn't quite understand, and leaned against him, because he was so tired of fighting with his own heart as well as the world around him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo sat for a long time beside Nnoitra and thought. "I want the collar," he said, finally, turning and looking at him. Nnoitra arched his brow.

"What?" he asked.

"I want to wear it," he said. In the bag of toys had been a very delicate blue colored collar. It could pass as a necklace; it was so thin. It was just a strip of three quarter inch wide suede leather with a silver buckle on the back. "No one will know what it is but us. And if they do know, what of it? It's my choice to wear what I want. And when you put that tag on it, it looks even more like a necklace. It…it would mean something to me, to feel it there, and know it came from you."

Nnoitra swallowed thickly. "Are you sure of that?"

Ichigo nodded. "I am. I think…I think it would be something tangible that I could feel out there in the rest of the world, to remind me."

Nnoitra nodded. "Okay, but…" he said, holding up his finger. "It can only be taken off by me, and it has to be taken off before bed and when you bathe."

Ichigo nodded. "Okay," he said, leaning over and hugging Nnoitra. "You know, we have a lot of toys that we haven't even looked at," he whispered against his neck, kissing him.

"I know, but I don't…" he started, but Ichigo had shifted, sitting back on his thighs, eyes hooded and looking up at him.

"Please, Papi," he said, looking almost tearful. "I wanna play with the big boy toys, you promised we could, 'member?" he asked, smiling as sweetly as any child ever could.

Nnoitra felt his throat go dry and his blood rush directly to his cock and he let out a throaty growl. "Ah, Chiquito, why do you do this? I said no, remember?" he said, centering his eye on him. Ichigo turned his lips into a pout and grabbed his lion and clutched it.

"The I'm going to be mad at you," he said, turning his back to Nnoitra and harrumphing at him.

"Now, what did Papi say about pouting?" Nnoitra said, already seeing where this was going.

Together, they'd lined out what sort of things they wanted to call "punishments" and what sort of consequences for Ichigo's "bratty" behavior would be. Of course, incidents of his "bratty" behavior were intended very much to receive said punishments, of course. There were rewards, too, but it all depending on the mood Ichigo was in, whether he wanted to be cuddled and loved, or if he wanted to be punished.

"That if I kept it up, you were going to punish me for it next time," he said, and Ichigo glanced back over his shoulder at Nnoitra, and Nnoitra caught the smirk on his face for a second before it disappeared.

Nnoitra smirked as well, sighing. He was definitely pushing for it this time. He'd deferred Ichigo for several days, but each day, he was trying to push Nnoitra to do something. So finally, after Ichigo had stormed out of the kitchen because he didn't get his way and pouted in the bedroom, Nnoitra had told him that he was going to get a chance to straighten out before that night. Obviously, Ichigo didn't want to do that. He wanted Nnoitra to play with him.

"So, Chiquito, what are you going to do? Are you going to behave, or are you going to keep pouting and make Papi punish you?" he said, leaning forward on the bed a bit.

"I don't like you anymore. You're mean and you're a bad Papi," Ichigo groused. Of course, that was a specific cue that they'd agreed to. There were several of those, but that particular one meant that Ichigo was wanting the more severe of the punishments they'd come up with. Nnoitra honestly hadn't thought this would be the first one he would go for, but whatever, it wasn't his choice, it was Ichigo's.

"Oh, now you have definitely made Papi upset, bebe," Nnoitra said, moving off the bed and walking around to the end to look down at him. Ichigo looked up and gave him an incredibly pouty face. "You don't say things like that, comprende? You do not tell Papi that. I want to make you happy, but I can't have you saying such naughty things."

Ichigo's eyes flittered from the floor up to Nnoitra, and Nnoitra saw his eyes were blown and he was starting to breath heavily. "Well, I'm still mad," he said, looking away.

Nnoitra reached forward and turned his face to him. "No, don't look away when I'm talking to you," he said, meeting Ichigo's eyes. "You know what the consequence is, don't you?"

Ichigo tried to look away but Nnoitra didn't let him. "Yes, Papi," he said, and his lip quivered. "Papi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't say it again," he said, looking like he was about to cry any second. For a moment Nnoitra hesitated, starting to wonder if he was really wanting him to do this, but Ichigo reached up and ran his fingers across the back of Nnoitra's hand and nodded to him almost imperceptibly. If he wasn't looking directly at him, he wouldn't have seen it. His fingers ran softly over his hand and he sighed. "I'll be a good boy, Papi," he said, eyes starting to look teary again.

"Hmm, you still have to be punished, si?" he said, standing up and letting go of Ichigo's chin.

"Papi, I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" he said, looking all the world a vision of innocence.

"Ah, but how will you learn if you don't receive the punishment for your actions, eh?" he asked, sitting down against the headboard of the bed and patting his lap. "Come on."

Ichigo nodded, looking forlorn and crawled slowly over the bed until he was kneeling by Nnoitra's legs. Nnoitra waited patiently, arms crossed over his chest. Ichigo slowly crawled over him, laying on his stomach across his lap. Nnoitra could already feel Ichigo's hardness against his thigh and if he hadn't been hard already he would have been from that. The things Ichigo did to him, he thought. He sighed, running his hands gently up and down Ichigo's back and ass over the light pajamas he'd gotten him. They weren't what Ichigo wanted, but locating the type of pajamas Ichigo wanted in his size was proving…challenging for Szayel. He slid his hands under the back of the top and felt the staccato of his heart and felt his breathing. Ichigo and he had worked out these positions already, of course. Ichigo's head was laying on his crossed arms, and a pillow was under his chest to support him.

He slid one hand down the back of his pajama bottoms, then slid them down off his hips until they rested below the swell of his ass. Nnoitra ran his hands over the smooth flesh a few times, marveling at how soft it was, and how pale. Then he snapped his wrist and swatted him the first time. Ichigo jerked and whimpered into the pillow, but Nnoitra could feel him already leaking through his clothes onto his leg. Nnoitra was a little surprised, but he slowly rubbed circles around the quickly reddening mark he'd left.

"Are you okay, Chiquito?" he asked softly.

Ichigo nodded into his pillow. "You remember what to do to stop?" he asked. Ichigo nodded into the pillow again, and Nnoitra nodded, smacking him several more times, and realized the poor thing was stifling moans and he was already dripping so much down Nnoitra's leg that he was sure that he was going to go over the edge without him ever touching him.

After about six swats that left bright reddish splotches over his ass, Nnoitra rubbed his hands over him gently. "Ah, now Chiquito, was that so bad?"

Ichigo pushed himself up and looked down where his pajamas were soaked through. "Papi, I made a mess," he whispered, cutting his eyes up at Nnoitra. "Can I take this off? It…it's sticky…"

Nnoitra nodded and Ichigo shimmied out of the bottoms and tossed them over the side of the bed. He glanced down and back to Nnoitra. "Papi, I'm sorry, can…can I make it up to you? You aren't a bad Papi," he said, eyes roaming down Nnoitra. "I can help Papi," he said, crawling over and nudging Nnoitra's hand with his head.

Nnoitra couldn't stand much more at this rate. He swallowed, arching his hips up and sliding his sweatpants down his legs. Ichigo grabbed them and yanked them off quickly, surprising Nnoitra at his fervor. "Easy, Chiquito," he said, moving a bit.

It was really the first time Ichigo had seen him. Before, Ichigo had been grinding on his lap, or he'd been touching him. Ichigo stared for a moment. "Papi, you're so…so…" he whispered.

Ichigo, however, was not deterred by his surprise. He was instead fascinated. He reached out tentatively and ran his hand around Nnoitra and began sliding his hand up and down the shaft like Nnoitra had done for him. He felt the organ twitch in his hand and he smiled to himself. He'd done this. He'd put his Papi in this state, and he was very proud of that fact. He leaned forward, cutting his eyes up at Nnoitra before he stuck out his tongue and licked gently at the head. Nnoitra held on for dear life because fucking hell was that look enough to send him over the edge. Ichigo spent a few more minutes exploring with his tongue and fingers before he started to go down further, but immediately gagged himself.

Ichigo came up, face turning red and coughing. "Oh, Chiquito, don't hurt yourself," Nnoitra said, but Ichigo nodded, a look of sheer determination on his face as he leaned over again, and this time tried not to gag, but played with him, trying to avoid nicking him with his teeth. He wasn't doing too bad, Nnoitra thought, especially for someone who hadn't given a blow job before. He felt it building in his stomach, and he resisted the incredible urge to jus slam Ichigo's face down on him. He instead swallowed. "Bebe, Papi's almost there, if you want to…to…"

Ichigo instead of sitting up and finishing with his hand like Nnoitra thought he would, began to suck harder on him as far down as he could go without choking. Nnoitra grunted, and he felt rolled his eyes up and felt the most incredible sensation of going off like that. Ichigo waited, sucking and licking until he'd finished, and looked up at him, smiling.

"I did good, Papi?" he asked, smiling at him, spit dripping down from the corners of his mouth still.

"Oh yes, come here, Papi will give you a present now," he said, gesturing to him to come toward him. When he got closer, Nnoitra turned him to face away from him then pushed him over on his legs. He had an excellent view, he thought pulling Ichigo's hips back toward him and leaning forward to lick at the still red flesh on his ass. Ichigo gasped at the touch but didn't move. Again, it was a position they had practiced, so he knew where to put his hands and his head to keep from hurting himself.

"Hmm, does Chiquito like Papi's tongue on him?" he said, leaning forward and licking the reddened flesh until he found his way to the crease. Ichigo gasped a bit but didn't move as he licked down toward his entrance. Ichigo whimpered now. "Chiquito, don't bite your hands, remember?" he said and he felt Ichigo move his hands.

Nnoitra continued the slow and torturous process of teasing the poor creature until he was very nearly about to crest. Nnoitra reached under and grasped the base of his cock though, causing him to moan deliciously. He could feel the panting breaths on his leg as he slid his tongue through the entrance and felt him shudder. He wasn't done with him yet, of course. He moved a bit, sliding his free hand up and sliding his fingers against him, pressing lightly, waiting to see if he was going to have him stop.

"Chiquito?" he said quietly. "If you want me to stop, you know you can," he said, breathing out on the headed flesh.

"Puh-please…Papi…" he panted against his leg. "Please…" he said, and Nnoitra nodded, sliding his finger through the tight ring of muscles. He felt him quiver under him, letting out a low throaty moan. He was careful, of course, watching for any indication he should stop. Instead, he only got the cues that they'd worked on as ongoing confirmation. It wasn't something that had happened over a few days. It had been three weeks now that they had been arranging the things that would keep both of them in check. Ichigo had wanted to progress faster, but Nnoitra had absolutely refused to rush things.

"Chiquito, I'm going to touch something, and it is going to feel very good," he said beginning to stroke him slowly, but still keeping pressure on him. "And when I do, I want you to let go for Papi, okay?"

"Un hun," was all Ichigo could manage as Nnoitra slid his second finger into him beside the first. Again, he shuddered and Nnoitra concentrated on finding…he smirked as he felt the spongey bundle of nerves he was looking for. He slowly began to stroke him from the inside and the outside, and he was pretty sure Ichigo might come unglued completely if he didn't let him go. He was completely nonsensical, muttering things and panting with both hands gripping tightly to Nnoitra's calves. He was sure he was going to have nail marks.

"Okay, Chiquito, let go…of everything," he said, sliding his hand up and down on him quickly, flicking his wrist up to angle the stoke a bit. A couple deft strokes and he fell over the top of the wave he was riding. Ichigo's voice stuttered in a sort of mixture of a moan and whine as he felt it slam into him. Nnoitra kept his fingers seated inside him, feeling his body constrict on his fingers, and smiled. It would seem that he was going to be very responsive as time went on. When he collapsed forward, Nnoitra leaned up, scooping him back into his lap, cradling him against his chest.

He rocked him gently and petted his hair as he breathed heavily against his chest. After a minute he looped both arms around his neck and buried his face there. It took longer than Nnoitra expected, but he finally seemed to come out of the headspace and started to snuggle against him.

"Papi," he whispered. "I'm tired now," he said quietly. "I love you, Papi," he said quietly and Nnoitra pulled him even tighter for a moment before sliding both of them down into the bed, and Nnoitra found it impossible to removed Ichigo from his arms. He managed to get his mask on before he fell asleep completely, but even then, his arms were full and that night, no nightmares woke his little one.


	12. Ghosts of Twilight's End

Chapter Twelve

 _Ghosts of the Twilight's End_

"You have a class with the Vampire, huh?" one of the students walking with Karin and Yuzu said as they walked toward the observatory for their first night class of the year. He was a red-haired boy that tended to watch Yuzu intently. His name was Jinta, but neither girl remembered what his last name was. Toshiro walked beside them. He rolled his eyes at the other boy.

"The Vampire?" Karin asked curiously.

"Yeah, Professor Cifer. He's a vampire, we all know it, just can't prove it," Jinta said with a smirk and put his hands up behind his head as he walked in some not so subtle attempt to appear cool.

Toshiro snorted. "He's not."

"Oh yeah, prove it?" Jinta said with a smirk. "You never see him outside during the day. He won't let the churchy people in the observatory to do stuff, saying that he doesn't want to mix religion in school stuff, and have you ever seen him standing near a mirror? I bet he hasn't got a reflection."

Yuzu and Karin exchanged exasperated looks. "I highly doubt that he's a vampire," Karin muttered.

"Hey, how come you never ask anyone to your place anyway?" Jinta asked with a frown. "My sister, Ururu was asking why we didn't all get together with your family and ours, since your father seems to know Uncle Kisuke and our adopted father, Tessai. And how come Uncle Kisuke hasn't been around as much anyway? What's he up to?"

Yuzu and Karin exchanged a nervous glance as they entered the observatory. They both enjoyed it and they took seats as everyone else came in talking and chatting. Jinta made sure to sit between Yuzu and Karin, much to both of their annoyance. Toshiro rolled his eyes and sat beside Karin on the other side. After a few minutes, a dark-haired man with very pale skin walked up to the board set up in the front.

Jinta leaned over to Yuzu. "Look at that; his skin's even white."

Yuzu rolled her eyes in response and shushed him.

"Good evening, students. Welcome to the first night class for astronomy 101. Now, because of the fact we have a special class, we only meet six times during the semester, and each class is four hours, with a thirty-minute break in the middle. For that reason, unlike other classes, you will not be able to slack off or mess up in this class. I will be available for any that do miss class for illness, however, I request you notify me in advance if you will be absent. Now, for the first hour, we're going to go over the basic terminology. Please log into the classroom document site, and like your other classes, you will be permitted to write communal notes as we progress. I warn you, the end of the first two-hour period, there will be a pop quiz on terminology, so I suggest you pay attention."

One of the reasons that Seireitei University had been such an attractive option was that the entire school was technologically advanced. All students got a netbook at admission, and every class had classroom "boards" that students could log into during class and make notes with each other. Of course, it was monitored by a teacher's assistant in the class to ensure it wasn't used improperly. Anyone found abusing the system would be booted from the board and not allowed in until the professor or TA unlocked their account. Assignments could all be submitted electronically, and all testing was done on the net books. In seemed on the surface to cost more, but in the end the school actually saved a lot of money and time by doing things the way they had.

By the time the first hour was done, everyone was ready for their first ten-minute bathroom break. When Karin came back she rolled her eyes because Jinta was still trying to impress Yuzu. Toshiro walked up behind her. "He doesn't get that she's not interested, huh?"

Karin shook her head. "No, Yuzu is a sweet, gentle thing. He's way too forceful. He hasn't got a shot in hell," she muttered.

Everyone resumed their seats and continued class, and Karin, at the long half hour break opted to go speak with the professor.

"Professor?" she asked as he sat at the desk looking at his own laptop.

He looked up. "Karin Kurosaki. How may I assist you?" he asked with an utterly emotionless expression. Karin blinked.

"Ah, um, I just wanted to tell you I'm very pleased to be in your class. The work that you've done since you began working in astronomy always fascinated me, more than sports even," she said with a smirk. "Um, but yeah, I read the paper you wrote at my age in high school. I can't imagine doing such work at seventeen or eighteen. You were really a child prodigy."

Ulquiorra smiled at her and nodded. "Oh, yes, it was difficult, but I loved it, honestly. The work made me happy, and it still does. I still do some research, on my off nights."

Karin nodded then blushed a bit. "Um, Professor, would you maybe be okay with me coming to the observatory some nights, just to do some research on my own?"

Ulquiorra looked up and cocked a dark brow at her. "Um…of course, Miss Kurosaki. Please, if you wish to come by, email me, and I'll ensure that the entrance is unlocked, or if you plan to come by often, I can provide you with a card key to come and go as you wish. What is your field of interest?"

Karin smiled. "Well, little of everything, but I really want to get into birth and death of stars."

He nodded. "Ah, well, I'll gladly help."

She stopped, noting that her phone was in her pocket. "Oh, um, Professor, I need to let you know, I have a cell phone that I have to keep on, but I put it on vibrate in my pocket so it shouldn't disturb anyone. If I get up and leave with my sister Yuzu in class, I apologize in advance. My brother…um…he's kind of in a rather…delicate state, and if anything happens…"

Ulquiorra nodded. "Does he have an illness?"

Karin chewed her lip in thought. "Um, well, not really, ah…I don't know how to explain it. He's…ah…" She paused. "Never mind, I'm sure it won't come up."

She turned on her heel and headed back to her seat, leaving the pale professor confused. He continued the class, though and found that most the students took things seriously, which was a pleasant change from last year. He was the youngest professor on staff, barely twenty-two, and he often was hassled by some of the kids that were new because of it. He sighed as he shut the door behind the exiting students and headed up to the big telescope, sitting down and watching the stars.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo was pouting and Nnoitra was not in the mood. He'd had a rough night, and it seemed that it coincided with Ichigo's foul mood. He'd gotten through the lessons for the day, pleasing Nnoitra and his father. Thus, far he'd hit high school knowledge levels already, but he had taken a distinct distaste to reading for English Literature or anything like that. At first, Nnoitra was amused by his whining when he had to read stories or books for those areas. Then it started to become less amusing when he started failing the reading comprehension testing and Nnoitra realized that he wasn't really reading the material. He had no lack of reading skills, those had come along nicely, and he read for other subjects just fine. He simply did not seem to enjoy the literature side of things. He hated poetry, and he refused to read anything except science books in his free time.

"Chiquito, you cannot just read what you want. You need to do this work."

Ichigo sat on the sofa with his arms crossed defiantly. "I don't wanna," he muttered and snorted.

Nnoitra sighed deeply and shook his head. "I don't care if you 'don't wanna'. You're going to do it because you have to. You are almost caught up and ready to take the first round of pre-tests for the GED work. You won't pass them without doing the literature work."

Ichigo growled and shook his head. "Then I don't need a GED."

Nnoitra didn't expect the reaction he had to those words. He stood before he knew it and had snatched Ichigo up by the arm. Ichigo, even, had a surprised and shocked look on his face as he was stumbling after Nnoitra. Isshin, who had been sitting on the other sofa and listening as Nnoitra tried to reason with him, watched them go, somewhat worried since Nnoitra seemed really angry. Kisuke put a hand on his arm and sat down beside him.

"Let him handle it."

"Are you sure he won't go too far with him?" Isshin asked quietly.

"Tell me what you would do," Kisuke asked and handed the other man a cup of tea.

Isshin licked his lips. "I…I don't think I could make him do something he doesn't want to do," he said with a sigh. "I would let him stop there if he insisted."

Kisuke sipped his own tea. "Exactly why you need to let Nnoitra handle it. He's not going to let him stop just because he got into difficult material. The reason he's resisting doing the literature is because it isn't easy. He has to think and extrapolate answers. There's no right or wrong like with everything else. There's no neat checkbox. He has to analyze things and really think about them. He doesn't want to do it because it's hard. That doesn't me he shouldn't do it."

Isshin listened carefully and heard voices now and then but nothing that indicated that he needed to intervene. He was realizing that Nnoitra really cared for Ichigo, and despite how quickly they'd fallen together, Isshin knew he wanted what was best for him. He sipped his tea and picked up his book and waited to see how long it took Nnoitra to convince his son that he had to work hard to succeed.

Not far away Nnoitra had taken Ichigo into their room and sat him down on the edge of the bed. Ichigo still looked surprised at Nnoitra's reaction. Nnoitra stared at him where he sat for a long time before he spoke. He had to calm himself before he said anything.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"By what?" Ichigo asked, his eyes wide and on Nnoitra.

"By saying you'll just give up on it. That just because the work got harder you're going to quit and not finish your GED requirements."

Ichigo hadn't even come close to realizing how upset this would make Nnoitra. "But I don't need it anyway. What do I need it for? I mean, I'm not going to college or anything, right? There's no way I could do that, not like my sisters. I can't even think about doing that right now. I couldn't handle the people, and there's no way that I could even consider…"

Nnoitra was holding his calm quite well. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been raised to believe that education was the key to success, and that his mother had told him for as long as he could remember that he needed to improve himself. Now, Ichigo was saying he was just going to give up and that he couldn't go any further.

"Who said you'd never got to college? Just what are you going to do with your life?" Nnoitra asked as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

Taken aback a bit, Ichigo stared at him. "I…well…I don't know…I can't…how can I even think about a future," he said sudden with a sigh. "I'm not going to be able to do anything, so what's the point."

"What do you mean you aren't going to be able to do anything?"

Ichigo looked up, tears brimming in his eyes already. "Look at me, Papi. Look. How can I even think about living a normal life? How? I can't be around people I don't know. I get nervous just thinking about leaving this place, and that's not even counting the fact that…that…h-he is out there…that's just leaving here makes my body freeze up and I can't think. And what am I going to do? I've looked online. I can't do anything with a stupid GED. Like I can go to college and be a doctor or something like that. They won't even take me when they see that. I'm worthless and useless, and when they catch him, I won't…I won't even be worth your time…" he said and turned away from Nnoitra.

Nnoitra breathed in and out a few times and then controlled himself to avoid exploding at him. It wouldn't help. "Listen here. You are not worthless and useless, and you will do something with your life. Just because that _puta_ did something horrible to you, and kept you locked away from the world does not mean you cannot be a happy, productive member of the world. You are very much capable of making something of yourself, and if you are going to be with me, like this, you are going to work hard. You are going to listen to me when I give you instructions, and you are not going to give up just because it got more difficult. Do not think I haven't seen what you're doing."

Ichigo looked at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean-" he started.

"Ah!" Nnoitra said and lifted his hand to point at him. "You learned all your lessons quickly until you got to having to really think about this stuff. You figured out math and science and history because there was only one right answer, now you have to think and it isn't as easy. You memorize things, and if I'm not wrong, you've got an eidetic memory."

Ichigo blinked at him for a long time. "Um, that means to remember what you read, right? Word for word."

Nnoitra nodded. He'd noticed it but hadn't brought it up because he wasn't sure until now. "Yeah, Chiquito, and that's why you find the work so easy. You read it once and remember it, don't you?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah…that's why I can't forget the other stuff," he said with a sigh.

Nnoitra nodded. Ichigo had horrible flashbacks at night, he knew. He'd suspected for a while that the reason was his mind wouldn't let him forget the events. The details in some of his stories of his time with Ryūken were a little too clear as well, especially for someone as traumatized as he had been. Uryū couldn't remember with the clarity that Ichigo had been able to remember. This just confirmed what Nnoitra had believed.

Nnoitra looked at him. "Up, and in the corner. Put your nose in the dot and stand there until I tell you to come back," he said and went to sit on the bed.

Ichigo turned and looked at him with wide eyes. "Papi?" he asked.

"Now. You are not going to neglect your studies simply because it got a little bit difficult. Now."

Ichigo wanted to tell him no as he looked to the corner of the room where there was a tiny little circle drawn at a spot just high enough that he had to stand on the balls of his feet to reach it with his nose. Not all punishments were fun, and this had been something they'd agreed on for actual punishment rather than the things that Ichigo enjoyed in punishment.

"If you do not do it, I will put you on the sofa for the next few nights to sleep alone," Nnoitra said as he picked up his tablet and started looking through his eBooks.

Ichigo swallowed and got up, heading to the corner and lifting himself up to put his nose on the dot.

"Bell," Nnoitra said without looking up.

Ichigo had been hoping he'd forget as he reached on the nearby bookshelf and picked up the ribbon with a bell on it. He tied it around his waist and put his nose on the dot. He wondered how long he'd have to wait. After about five minutes he let his heels down and the motion caused the bell to jingle. He growled under his breath and returned to the spot. Every time he let the bell jingle, Nnoitra would add two minutes to the time. He was trying to hold it as much as he could but he was about to tip backward when he felt Nnoitra put his hands on his hips.

"Okay, Chiquito, that's fine," he said and untied the little bell. Ichigo turned and looked up at him. "You did a good job, but you understand why?"

"Yes, Papi," he said with a sigh. "I do, I'm sorry. I'll do better, I promise."

Nnoitra caressed his face and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Now, silly little Chiquito, we'll start tomorrow with the stuff you neglected, okay? I'll help you with it, and you will do fine. And if you mouth off to me again to say you're giving up, I will put your little ass in the corner again for twice as long. Do you understand me?" Nnoitra's smile didn't cover up the seriousness he spoke with.

"Yes, Papi," he said with a nod.

Nnoitra leaned over a bit more and planted a chaste kiss on Ichigo's lips. Ichigo flicked his tongue at Nnoitra's lips, though, and it turned into a passionate kiss that left them both panting just as there was a knock on the door.

"Five minutes for dinner," came Kisuke's voice.

"Alright," Nnoitra called out as he smiled at Ichigo. "We'll finish this after dinner, si?" he said.

Ichigo nodded. "Yes, Papi, please," he said.

Nnoitra took his hand and led him back out so they could eat with the others.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"No, that's ridiculous, he's not a vampire," the young girl said with exasperation as she rolled her eyes. She was extremely pale with black hair, and an extremely "pastel goth" look about her.

"He is so!" Jinta was saying.

Karin and Yuzu had gone for a walk after class and ran into a group from the free school setting up to do a movie for one of their classes outside a rundown house. Wonderweiss and Toshiro had wanted to come along, but Jinta had ended up following, seeming to think that he was going to increase his chances with Yuzu. Wonderweiss had his Fura with him, which Yuzu had spent the entire walk cooing over. Jinta, of course, was a bit annoyed because she wasn't paying attention to him. That's why then ended up coming to see the kids over by the building. Jinta apparently knew some of those in the group because he'd run to say hi to them. A girl with dark pigtails rolled her eyes at Jinta.

"Jinta's Ururu's brother," Lilynette explained when Karin and Yuzu were watching as they started picking on each other. "We're making a horror movie, though. This is Giselle Gewelle, she's into horror makeup and stuff, and we're making a ghost story movie."

"And he is so a vampire!" Jinta said, glaring at his sister and Giselle.

"Give me a break! Vampires don't cast a reflection, dummy, and I've seen his reflection before," she said with a shake of her head. "I know these things!"

"You don't know nothing! You're in high school!" Jinta said with a snort.

"I am only three years younger than you, Jinta. And besides, I've seen Mr. Cifer outside in the daylight, and I've also seen him handle a Bible!" Giselle commented. "Anyway, we're checking out this place to see if it works for our movie."

"This looks good," a boy's voice said, and Karin and Yuzu saw a blonde boy coming out of the house. "Looks like the place is stable, and a lot of good dusty corners, but easy to light."

"Yay, thanks, Yukio!" Lillynette said. "Start filming in the morning? We're losing the light today."

Giselle nodded. "Yeah, I'll call Gremmy and Riruka and have them meet us here. Time to get home for dinner!"

Karin and Yuzu looked at each other. "Oh, no, we're going to be late," Karin said. "We should hurry back. You two want to come with us? I'm sure you could come to dinner if you wanted?" she said, looking between Toshiro and Wonderweiss. Jinta was arguing with Ururu again and didn't notice as they left.

"Sure, I don't need to do anything tonight, lemme let my roommate know I won't be in until later," Toshiro said and texted quickly.

Wonderweiss nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'll tell my brother," he said and took out his phone as they walked to message Szayel.

"I think my brother might know your brother, isn't he the one with pink hair or something?" Yuzu said as she walked closer to him.

"Yeah, he's got pink hair," Wonderweiss said with a smile.

Before long, the four had arrived at the building and Karin realized she'd forgotten to check with her father about them coming. She winced as she opened the door.

"Um, Pop, we brought guests tonight," she called out.

Isshin, who was sitting in the living room got up and came to see who they had with them. "Oh, hi there boys," he said and smiled.

"Toshiro," she said and pointed to the white-haired boy. "Wonderweiss," she said and pointed to the blonde. "This is my dad, Isshin Kurosaki. Oh, Pop, Wonderweiss has a little donkey, too."

Isshin started to say something then realized that the boy had a literal miniature donkey. He shook his head and let them all into the house.

Both boys nodded and looked around. "I've never been in one of Ms. Harribel's rentals before," Toshiro commented as he walked in.

"Kisuke, we have two extras!" Isshin called as he led them into the dining area. He turned toward them. "Boys, sit anywhere except that end," he said as he headed back to get the extra table settings.

Toshiro sat down in the center and Karin sat beside him. Wonderweiss sat on the opposite side, putting Fura under the table at his feet and Yuzu sat beside him. Kisuke came out and said hi as he started setting out the family share meal.

"Oh, well, ah, two more isn't a problem, I make plenty," he muttered as he left and returned. He paused at one of the doors and knocked. "Uryū, Chad, dinner."

He saw Kira already coming in front the other room and he guessed Gin was out for the evening. Kira sat down near Karin, and a few seconds later, Uryū and Chad emerged, sitting down on the side with Yuzu and Wonderweiss. Uryū seemed off in another world and didn't seem to note the new guests. After a minute, Isshin came back and sat on the side with Karin and Toshiro, and Kisuke sat at one end.

"They coming?" Kisuke asked as he started passing around some of the dishes.

"Yeah, they are. I don't know what mood Ichigo will be in, depending on what Nnoitra said to him about his studies…" Isshin said still worried about that whole thing.

A second later Nnoitra came in with Ichigo clutching his hand and trailing behind him, studiously staring at the floor like a child that had been reprimanded. Nnoitra sat down and pulled Ichigo's chair closer and let him sit down. He looked up.

"Oh, we have guests," Nnoitra said with a smile.

Ichigo looked up and stared between Toshiro and Wonderweiss with wide eyes. Nnoitra sighed.

"Chiquito, stop staring and say hi. I know Wonderweiss well, remember Szayel? Wonderweiss is his younger brother," Nnoitra said as he started putting food on Ichigo's plate. "And I know Toshiro here in passing from classes at the school."

"Hi," Ichigo said and turned his eyes on his hands, intending fully to ignore the newcomers.

"Ah, Anaki, I'm sorry, we kind of decided on the spur of the moment to invite them, otherwise we would have told you," Yuzu said, biting her lip a bit.

"S'okay," Ichigo said as he took his plate from Nnoitra and began to play with the food immediately.

"No," Nnoitra said as he put a hand on Ichigo's. "None of that, _comprende_?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, Papi," he whispered and started tentatively taking bites of the food.

Toshiro kind of stared but tried not to because he didn't know everything about what had happened to Karin's brother. "Ah, so, it's nice to meet you all. Karin talks about everyone all the time."

"We're not a conventional family at the moment," Isshin said with a smile. "But we are a family."

Uryū looked up and smiled. "Ah, yeah, I'm sorry, it is nice to meet you two. Wonderweiss, right? And I heard your name was Toshiro?" he said.

Toshiro nodded. "Yeah," he said as he ate.

"I'm Uryū, their cousin," he said with a smile as he looked back at his food. "This is my friend Chad, he's staying here with us."

Things were quiet for a long time as everyone ate. Toshiro hadn't asked about the blonde man that sat silently eating. He wondered who he was but he didn't want to be rude. "Um, so I'm here for school," he said to break the silence. "I used to live in Washington state."

"I've never been there," Isshin said with a smile. Is it nice?"

"Wet."

"New Mexico is dry," Wonderweiss said suddenly, getting everyone's attention suddenly. "My brothers and I used to live there."

Nnoitra smiled. "Yeah, Szayel said that you guys used to live there. I'd like to visit sometime. Szayel talks about you all the time, he's very proud of what you're doing."

Wonderweiss smiled. "Szayel said that you like his shows. Sometimes I listen and get a laugh out of them. They say funny things."

"Shows?" Isshin asked.

Nnoitra smirked at him. "He runs a sex talk show at night with our friend Luppi."

Isshin nodded. "Ah, I see."

Ichigo suddenly yelped in surprise and stared at the floor between his legs. Nnoitra looked over and snickered.

"Ichigo, meet Wonderweiss's pet, Fura. She's a miniature donkey," he said with wink at Wonderweiss.

Ichigo stared for a moment before reaching down and scratching the little creature's head in wonder. He'd never seen anything like it…


End file.
